Agence France Presse
GENEVA, March 23 (AFP) - Ambassadors to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) failed Thursday to name a chairman for a new round of talks on agricultural trade, said Norway's representative, Kare Bryn.
But they agreed that New Zealand's ambassador Roger Farrell will provisionally chair the initial two days of talks, which were to begin later Thursday, Bryn told reporters.
Negotiations on agriculture were supposed to have begun at the beginning of this year.
But widely diverging views, particularly on agriculture, led to failure at last December's WTO ministerial meeting in Seattle which was to launch the so-called Millennium Round.
"It's an unfortunate situation for the WTO. A quarter of the year has already gone," Bryn said.
Farrell also noted disappointment among members over the failure to name a permanent chairman for the talks, but added that the priority now was to get the meeting underway.
Farrell was chosen on a provisional basis because he is chairman of the goods committee, which oversees agricultural issues, Bryn said.
A proposal for Brazil's ambassador Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim to head the agricultural talks was rejected by the European Union, trade sources said.
Brazil is a member of the 15-nation Cairns Group, which is demanding the abolition of subsidies on European agricultural exports.
Farrell said Japan had also indicated it was not happy with the Brazilian candidate.
WTO ambassadors were now due to consider suggestions on how to organise the negotiations, and a time table for covering the agricultural issues.:
