But he informed that some headway had been made in discussions on reducing barriers to agricultural trade, making a ministerial meeting possible in May.

Negotiations aimed at securing a preliminary agreement on trade in agricultural and industrial products have not advanced as much as had been hoped at the start of the year, he added.

Key trading powers

The Doha round of multilateral trade talks, held under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation, were launched in the Qatari capital in November 2001 but have foundered ever since, principally in disputes between developed and developing countries.

The source nonetheless said that in discussions here this week a technical compromise on agriculture was worked out among six key trading powers — Australia, Brazil, Canada, the United States, Japan and the European Union.

Tariff quotas

The six countries agreed on a method to calculate the level of domestic consumption necessary to determine an increase in tariff quotas on certain “sensitive” agricultural goods.

Under a draft agreement put forward by the World Trade Organisation, certain agricultural products in developed countries, deemed to be sensitive for their farmers, could be cushioned from the impact of sharp cuts in import tariffs.

In exchange developed nations would agree to overall quotas covering the entry of imported goods.