Ministers fail to agree on farm trade reform

MINISTERS from more than 20 countries wrapped up divisive WTO talks yesterday, after failing to find a degree of common ground on key issues of agricultural trade reform and poor countries’ access to life-saving drugs.

How far and how quickly to tear down barriers to world farm trade was a key topic of the discussions, which showed countries were still widely split on the issue.

"A broad range of different views was expressed as to what levels of ambition or balance we should be seeking to achieve," Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi, who chaired the meeting, told a news conference.