Geneva - Emerging economies dug in their heels at WTO talks on Monday, insisting on their proposals as ministers slogged into a second week of efforts to break deadlock on a global trade pact.
In the light of talks late into another night on Sunday, progress seemingly made at the end of last week appeared to be snagged on new setbacks.
Ministers from developing nations said a draft on the table remained unbalanced, and that compromises had to be found.
Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said: "We'll see what happens today. A number of major developing countries and groupings still have major reservations on parts of the text."
Pangestu, who leads the G33 group of developing countries said that parts of the draft did not reflect "a development round yet".
He said: "We still feel there's an imbalance, ... there has to be a level of compromise."
Unresolved issues
Delegates leaving a late night meeting on Sunday said much remained unresolved. The United States also began pointing its finger at emerging economies for hampering progress.
US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said after the talks that there was a path "for a successful outcome on Friday night", and that while it was not perfect, it was delicately balanced, with a strong endorsement.
"Unfortunately a few emerging markets have decided that somehow they want to re-balance it in favour of one or another issue," she said.
"That was a very delicate balance that was struck. You pull one thread, it threatens to unravel."
As if to prove her point, key African and Caribbean banana producers threatened on Sunday to torpedo any deal if the European Union and Latin American states went ahead with a plan to cut EU banana import tariffs.
"We will block the (WTO) negotiations if our latest counter-proposal is not accepted," Cameroon's Trade Minister Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, spokesperson for the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) trade grouping, said.
His comment referred to the ACP's bid to amend an agreement by the European Union to lower banana import tariffs for certain Latin American states, which ACP countries fear will harm the competitiveness of their banana industries.
When asked early on Monday if the Doha Round could fall down on the banana issue, Ivory Coast Ambassador Guy-Alain Gauze said: "I hope not."
Gauze was speaking just before heading into talks with all 153 members of the WTO.
Optimism had grown after a perceived breakthrough on Friday in deadlocked talks on farming and industrial products, followed by further encouraging signs from key players after discussions on the services sector.
But as negotiators began picking through the finer details on Sunday, a split opened up among emerging nations, underlining the vast differences in their interests.
India protects farmers
India stuck to its hard line of protecting its small-scale farmers, claiming that it had rallied 100 countries to its cause, but other developing economies said they opposed India's stance on the issue.
Commerce Minister Kamal Nath told reporters Sunday night's meeting was "constructive" but said there was still disagreement on the persistent sore points of agricultural import tariffs and sector-specific proposals for industrial goods.
Nath told reporters that "100 countries" had signed a paper backing India's concerns on the so-called special safeguard mechanism (SSM) which would allow developing countries to raise farm tariffs if imports surge.
But an African diplomat said: "Who are these 100 countries? They (India) are thriving on a pack of lies."
Other developing countries which oppose India's stance include Latin American economies such as Paraguay and Uruguay, much of whose farm exports go to developing states.
"We are not ready to accept a solution that will impose a different balance of rights and obligations than the one we agreed upon in the Uruguay Round" of talks in 1994, said Uruguay's ambassador to the WTO, Guillermo Valles Galmes.
Meanwhile, Asian export giant China annoyed other developing countries as it insisted on protecting its rice, cotton and sugar producers, another diplomat said.
"China is becoming a major problem. It is going back on a lot of its promises," said the diplomat on condition of anonymity, adding that the Asian exporter said it would not lower its tariffs on these three products.
- AFP