Last-ditch effort to put world trade talks back on track

Trade chiefs from the European Union, the United States, Japan and Brazil are meeting in London today in what is seen as a last chance to keep the hopes of a new global deal alive.

India convened the informal meeting to "bang heads together", a source close to the High Commission said. "We are trying to break the deadlock between now and Hong Kong".

Kamal Nath, the Indian Commerce Minister, said: "We are at a very critical stage and I hope that London will provide a breakthrough.

"We are 10 days away from a possible convergence, but if we meet in Hong Kong with the amount of divergence we have now, it will really be an exercise in futility."

He told The Independent that he expected both the US and EU to make genuine offers on agriculture to ensure that the talks delivereed real benefits to the poorest countries. "Development is intrinsically linked to the specific bneeds of these countries and is not a buffet that you just pick up when you want to."

The 148 member countries of the World Trade Organisation have just five weeks before a ministerial summit in Hong Kong to strike a deal that would boost the world economy by up to $100bn and lift millions out of poverty.

The talks, which were launched with a fanfare in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001, have since run into problems, with poor countries demanding massive cuts in farming subsidies offered by rich nations and the European Union riven by internal splits.

Peter Mandelson, the EU's trade commissioner, said on Friday: "I always hesitate to use the term make or break, but I think next week will determine whether we can get into the position of making Hong Kong a success or not."

The Canadian Trade Minister Jim Peterson said he wanted to see a "breakthrough in terms of ambition", adding: "This is the only forum we have in which we can rein in the agricultural subsidies of the EU or US and Japan."

Clodoaldo Hugueney, the WTO ambassador of Brazil, the unofficial leader of the powerful group of 21 middle-income countries, said: "Either people take decisions next week or it will be very difficult. We are going into a very crucial week."

Mr Mandelson has been caught between demands from poorer countries to cut the EU's trade-distorting farm support budget, currently $80bn a year, and opposition to wholesale cutbacks among EU states such as France which have threatened to walk out if he gives too much.

Last month Mr Mandelson offered to slash subsidies by 70 per cent and to cut its highest tariffs on imports by 60 per cent - but has insisted this is a final offer to avert French protests.

The meeting at the Indian High Commission in London will be followed by a wider meeting hosted by Pascal Lamy, the WTO's director-general, in Geneva the following day.