Farm Subsidies Final Hurdle Before World Trade Organization Agrees to Talks

Ministers from 144 nations neared agreement on a new round of global trade talks Tuesday night, succeeding where they had failed at the calamitous Seattle meeting of the World Trade Organization two years ago. Only a last-minute snag on future farm subsidies delayed an announcement that negotiators would begin a new three-year set of talks aimed at lowering world trade barriers. A day of intense, closed negotiations in Doha, Qatar, resolved disputes with European negotiators over environmental standards; with Indian textile producers over access to Canadian and US markets; and with US negotiators over drug patent rules. "I can tell you at this moment we are making progress," said Canada's Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew. "I think in terms of trade conferences, this is one that is going very well."

For the United States, the spotlight now shifts to Congress, where already bitter disputes over farm subsidies, anti-dumping rules and environmental and labor standards are expected to raise opposition against granting the fast track trade agreement authority that President George W. Bush says he wants. The United States and Switzerland did agree to waive drug patents in the interests of public health, particularly in areas facing health emergencies such as the spread of HIV/AIDS.

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