WORLD Trade Organisation mediators circulated new negotiating texts on Thursday that will serve as the blueprint for an outline deal in the WTO’s long-running Doha round, trade officials said.

Peter Mandelson shrugged off a bruising assault from Nicolas Sarkozy over the EU’s Lisbon Treaty crisis today – insisting the French president’s comments had actually been “tactful and diplomatic”.

FARMERS, food processors and the broader agri-business sector will send a stern message to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso when he addresses the National Forum on Europe in Dublin Castle today: do not sell out agriculture in the world trade-talks in Geneva.

FRENCH president Nicolas Sarkozy has warned that his country will use its veto in negotiations at the World Trade Organisation, if its farming interests are threatened.

GLOBALISATION is not about the end of manufacturing or farming in Europe, but both will change, European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said during an address in Lisbon.

The European Union is today expected to propose protective duties on imports of shoes from China and Vietnam after finding evidence the Asian nations are unfairly dumping footwear on European markets.

A TRANSATLANTIC row on food aid boiled over and anti-globalisation protesters clashed with police yesterday as troubled trade talks got underway in Hong Kong.

European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson today warned that World Trade Organisation talks need to be intensified next year to meet the deadline for an accord.

TRADE ministers headed to Geneva for crucial WTO negotiations this week with lowered expectations of finalising a first blueprint for a crucial December meeting in Hong Kong.

European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson will attend a meeting of agriculture “technical experts” in Geneva today to examine the social and economic impact of the European Commission’s farming proposals.

RESTORING import quotas that were abolished at the start of the year is not the solution to the European Union’s efforts to quell surging textile exports from China, European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has said.

EUROPEAN Union leaders urged voters to back the EU constitution on Friday in a sign of growing concern in Brussels over opinion polls that show French opposition to the charter is still rising.

THE European Commission yesterday gave the United States an autumn deadline to change disputed tax break laws for major corporations or face the threat of up to $4.0 billion in sanctions.