Geneva: The chief negotiator in crucial WTO talks on liberalising farm trade warned today he could postpone a new set of compromise proposals that had been scheduled for mid-November.

Crawford Falconer, who is also New Zealand s ambassador to the WTO, said the 151 World Trade Organisation members were "stuck" on the issue of special products that some poor nations could be allowed to protect.

"You couldn't have a meeting on that before November 14th," he told journalists. "You are putting a bit of pressure on to have a full revised text on the middle of November," he added.

Falconer did not say what kind of delay might be expected. But he hinted that the current aim of producing the outline of an overall multilateral deal to reduce trade barriers by the end of the year remained intact.

"I m not planning on hanging around in 2008," Falconer said.

Falconer had wanted to come up with a fresh set of compromise proposals to cut subsidies and import tariffs on agricultural produce by mid-November, based on negotiations over the past two months.

Developing and emerging nations in the six-year-old Doha Round of trade talks are seeking cuts in rich country subsidies and in import tariffs for agricultural produce.
Developed nations want better access to industrial markets in poorer economies in return.

Source : PTI