EU failure on farm policy will kill trade talks, warns Short

The European Union will throw away the prospects of a global trade agreement that could benefit millions of the world's poorest people if it does not agree to cut farm subsidies, Clare Short warned yesterday.

The outspoken Secretary of State for International Development said the EU would be the "guilty party" if the current round of trade talks foundered over reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP).

Her remarks came as it emerged talks to free up world farm trade were deadlocked, with little hope that negotiators will hit a 31 March deadline.

Ms Short told the Royal Institute of International Affairs that failure on this issue would "seriously endanger the Doha agenda". She launched a veiled attack on key supporters of the CAP such as France whom she accused of blocking reform.

"If their view prevails, the prospects of success in the Doha round will become very small indeed and the EU will be the guilty party in throwing away the prospect of a development round," she said. "The US needs to open up its markets too, but the humble EU is worse on this."

She told the audience of trade and international relations experts that farm liberalisation could boost developing countries' exports by up to $100bn (£64bn) a year. This would help lift 300 million people out of poverty by 2015.

The negotiations were launched in November 2001 at Doha in Qatar amid a feeling of unity in the wake of the 11 September terrorist outrages.

But Ms Short admitted that political will had receded in the wake of the splits between the US and some European states over the Iraq war.

On Monday, the head of the World Trade Organisation, Supachai Panitchpakdi, said he was confident the current round would be completed by a January 2005 deadline.