Leaders of the G8 industrial countries last night sought to end nine months of deadlock in global trade talks when they pledged a better deal for poor countries in an attempt to put negotiations back on track.
Fearful that the negotiations launched in Doha, Qatar, three years ago could be permanently deadlocked, the summit in Sea Island ordered warring trade ministers to settle their differences by the end of next month.
A Bush administration spokesman said the statement was an attempt to provide "political momentum" to end the protracted wrangling that has prevented progress in the World Trade Organisation talks since they broke down in Cancun, Mexico, last September.
The G8 said it was determined to "seize a moment of historic opportunity" to reinvigorate the negotiations, and offered concessions to placate developing countries. It wants a framework for talks to be in place when the WTO general council meets in Geneva at the end of July.
Although the G8 represents only a handful of the WTO's 148 members, the show of unity was intended to send a clear message that the US and the EU are prepared to put aside their deep differences to salvage the round.
The so-called Doha development round - started in November 2001 - is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year, a goal now seen as unattainable owing to the lack of progress over the past year. There is growing concern, however, that the talks could take years to complete if the deadlock is prolonged.
Last night's statement reflects optimism in Washington and Brussels that the talks can be revitalised ahead of November's US presidential election and before the new European commission is put in place this year.
In its statement, the G8 said its members were willing to put all forms of agricultural protection on the table, were prepared to discuss issues of special interest to poor countries, and accepted that developing countries should be allowed to liberalise at their own pace. Attempts by the EU to include investment, competition policy and government procurement in the negotiations have been abandoned.
"Working in cooperation with other WTO members, we are determined to move expeditiously before the end of July to complete the frameworks on key issues that will put these far-reaching negotiations on track towards a rapid and successful conclusion," it said.
The G8 is hoping that its olive branch will be accepted by the G20 group of developing countries - including China, India and Brazil - which up until now has insisted that concessions by the west did not go far enough.
On agriculture, the G8 said there should be "comprehensive negotiations on all forms of export competition, domestic support and market access. All three pillars of the agricultural negotiations must be treated with equal ambition."
It added: "We are on the verge of a historic opportunity to meet our objectives established at Doha for fundamental agricultural reform, encompassing strengthened rules and specific commit ments on support and protection, to correct and prevent restrictions and distortions in world agricultural markets."
The G8 said it was committed to the global trading system as "the best means of achieving greater and effective trade liberalisation and stronger global trade rules. The WTO has played a key role in driving global growth and must continue to do so.
It was vital, the statement said, that "the poorest are not left behind, but that they, too, develop the capacity to participate in the global trading system".
The summit leaders recognised that different countries would need to move at different speeds.
"A consensus appears to be emerging on a way forward", the US official said, adding that the G8 wanted to ensure that the countries "maintain a high and consistent level of ambition".The Guardian:
