Poor countries say they are still being short-changed

Some 30 of the biggest members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) are meeting to hammer out differences on farm subsidies and import tariffs.

The WTO has set an end-July deadline for a draft agreement.

The last attempt to reach such a deal - in Cancun, Mexico, last year - failed on the issue of farm trade.

Down on the farm

This time, progress has been slow, but participants remain optimistic.

"We've still got quite a lot of work to do, but I think these are more positive indications than we have had previously," said Alec Erwin, South Africa's public enterprise minister.

European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said on Friday an accord among WTO members on "50%" of the topics in the Doha round of trade liberalisation talks is possible by the July deadline.

The key problem is reaching a deal that will be agreed on not only by the world's biggest economies, but also by the developing world - which considers itself frozen out of the market by rich-country subsidy policies.

Agricultural exports are crucial to many poorer countries, and their supporters argue that they should be given a fairer deal.

In Cancun, developing countries banded together for the first time to overcome what they say is an EU-US dominance of the agenda.

Ups and downs

Now, there is less antagonism, but sticking points remain.

US trade chief Mr Zoellick says time is being wasted

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim has said a joint EU-US proposal on cutting import duties is "dead", while the Canadians have opposed European plans to scrap their wheat marketing board.

The EU has proposed scrapping its support for agricultural exporters, an idea that has run into opposition from some European governments.

"Nearly half the year is gone," US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said this week.

"We have yet to seize the opportunity that lies before us."