Participating in the meeting will be caretaker Commerce Minister Somkid Jatusripitak and senior Thai officials, as well as representatives from South Korea, India, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Switzerland and Asean.

"The US and the European Union should table a better offer to end the marathon talks on agricultural issues," Winichai Chamchang, deputy director-general of the Trade Negotiations Department, said last week.

The December deadline for a new global trade deal set at the sixth WTO Ministerial Meeting in Hong Kong last year seems likely to be missed. So far, the 147 members have grappled with agricultural practices, particularly domestic and export subsidies. They all agreed to end farm subsidies by 2010.

"The negotiations are rocky as the US doesn't want to reduce its subsidies below the EU. The upcoming negotiations will be tough and if they cannot reach a conclusion the talks will drag on for more than one year," Winichai said.

Completing the WTO process by the end of the year is particularly important for the US, so it can seek congressional confirmation before the president's trade promotion authority runs out in July 2007.

The WTO already missed one target in April to draw up a framework for removing trade barriers on farm and industrial goods.

Thailand and developing counties in the G-20 only want 1 per cent of farm products to remain under domestic subsidies, while the EU and US are pushing for 8-10 per cent.

"We're afraid other developed nations may exclude agricultural goods from market opening. We have to raise the issue to seek support from other developing countries," Winichai said.

The markets that Thailand would like to see liberalised are for rice, sugar, chicken and tapioca. The Kingdom would benefit the most from open markets because many countries will have to lower their tariffs.

India has the stiffest agricultural tariffs, followed by Brazil and Thailand.

Petchanet Pratruangkrai

The Nation