World trade's big players meet in secret to resolve farm rows

Three leading players in the global trade talks were holding secret meetings in London last night in an attempt to pave the way for a final breakthrough in the negotiations this spring.

Senior trade officials from the US, the EU and Brazil spent a third day of horse-trading amid hopes they could resolve their differences over agriculture.

"They are crunching numbers," said one trade source. "The fact that we haven't heard any details of the talks is probably a good sign, because if they were going badly somebody would have got annoyed and said something by now."

A deal between the US, EU and Brazil as well as India, the so-called "Quad" group is seen as vital to successfully conclude the talks which began in Doha in 2001. Negotiations were given a political push when trade ministers from 30 countries met at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, and officials have spent the past few weeks trying to address the specific problems that have caused the stalemate in the talks since July.

The US has warned the EU, India and Brazil that there will be no prospect of getting a trade deal through Congress unless American farmers can export more to the rest of the world.

Brussels has said it is prepared to cut tariffs on imported farm goods but wants to ring-fence some sensitive products.

Pascal Lamy, the director-general of the World Trade Organisation, believes that trade ministers have three months to draft an outline agreement. Although agriculture represents only a small part of global trade, it is seen as the catalyst for an agreement that would encompass industrial goods, services and new trade rules.

Any deal would then have to be accepted by all 150 WTO countries, and many developing nations have been complaining they have been left out in the cold.

Amy Barry of Oxfam said: "A deal cooked up behind closed doors at the last minute is unlikely to be good for development."

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