Cancun trade talks collapse The

Cancun trade talks collapse

The Washington Post says the Cancun talks have collapsed:

"CANCUN, Mexico -- Talks designed to change the face of farming around the world collapsed Sunday amid differences between rich and poor nations, the second failure for the World Trade Organization in four years...."

("World Trade Organization Talks Collapse in Cancun"). Evidently much of Sunday's discussion was spent on non-agricultural issues:

"Before the talks collapsed, delegates spent Sunday debating not the key changes to farming policy that they have spent much of the conference negotiating, but instead four proposals about foreign investment and competition from the European Union and Japan.

"Delegates said the Europeans agreed to back off on three of the proposals, but insisted they be granted one. That was unacceptable to many developing nations...

"...Many of the poor nations were frustrated that officials delayed discussion of agricultural reform on Sunday. Delegates had hoped to slash the subsidies rich nations pay their farmers and lower the tariffs many countries charge for importing farm goods."

Elizabeth Becker at the New York Times says the breakdown was precipitated when a group of developing nations walked out (agreements are by consensus):

"CANCUN, Mexico, Sept. 14 — Trade talks dissolved today when a group of developing nations walked out of the final session saying wealthy nations had failed to offer sufficient compromises on agriculture and other issues...

"...Richard L. Bernal, a delegate from Jamaica, said that a group of African, Caribbean, Asian and Latin countries felt they had little choice. The United States and Europe, he said, were not generous enough on reducing their agriculture subsidies, on helping poor African countries dependent on cotton, or understanding their difficulties in taking on such new trade responsibilities as investment."

See "World Trade Talks End in Failure, Delegates Say".