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WTO Trade Talks Show Signs Of Faltering

Trade ministers from developing countries were holding a meeting in Mauritius Monday, amid growing signs that the effort to revive global free trade talks by the end of this month were faltering.

EU Hints At Farm Export Compromise With U.S.

These materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The Associated Press The European Union on Monday backed its trade chief's "strategy and tactics" for forging a global trade deal, while stressing that any concessions on farm support had to be matched by the United States.

EU Says Australia Cannot Ignore Kyoto

Europe's chief negotiator on the Kyoto climate-change agreement has warned that Australia's opposition will become untenable when Russia signs, possibly before the end of the year, and has called on Australians to demand stronger political leadership on the issue.

Europeans Don't Quaff But Rather Scoff At Bioengineered Beer

Spurned across the continent by food-fastidious Europeans, the biotechnology industry has turned in its quest for converts to the ultimate ice breaker: genetically modified beer.

Venezuela Joins Mercosur, Mexico, Provisionally

A Mercosur summit embraced Venezuela as an associate member and accepted Mexico in principle on Thursday, gaining two oil suppliers and extending the bloc to the US border. Eight heads of state attended the 26th Mercosur summit, which closed Thursday. The membership announcements obscured lack of progress on other Mercosur matters during the two-day summit.

WTO Postpones Agriculture Meeting From Next Week

The World Trade Organisation has postponed next week's key negotiations on liberalising the trade in agriculture, a trade source said today. A new date for the meeting of trade negotiators, which was meant to be held on July 14-16, will be announced as soon as possible, the source added.

Canada Guiding WTO Talks to End Farm Subsidies

OTTAWA - Canadian officials are helping to broker critical international talks on farm subsidies designed to help crack open wider world trade in agricultural products. Finding a way to end the billions of dollars in subsidies the United States and European Union give their farmers is crucial to Canadian producers, Trade Minister Jim Peterson said Tuesday.

EU May Revamp Trade Preference System

The European Union unveiled proposals Wednesday to revamp trade preferences for developing countries, aiming to shift tariff breaks to those that need it most. EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said the reform would take greater account of market share in particular exports, such as textiles, when determining which countries should be eligible for the tariff reductions.