Mexicans fail to break WTO impasse

A COMPROMISE document drawn up by Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez failed to break an impasse over farm subsidies and other contentious issues at the five-day world trade talks which were scheduled to end in Cancun yesterday.

However, trade ministers from 146 countries didn’t give up hope of averting failure and were planning to work late into the night to try and devise a framework for agreement. Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh said Irish farmers would lose out if the proposals went ahead.

“The paper crosses several red lines the EU has clearly set out,” said EU Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler.