World Trade ministers meeting in Brazil have agreed that talks on a global pact to eliminate trade barriers must resume.
World Trade Organization chief Pascal Lamy said Sunday that the rich and developing nations meeting in Rio de Janeiro – which make up the so-called Group of 20 led by Brazil – have agreed that world trade talks should resume, but he did not name a date.
The talks, known as the Doha Round because they began in Qatar in 2001, collapsed in July.
At issue are rich nations’ subsidies for agricultural products, which developing countries say makes it hard for their products to compete.
For their part wealthy nations complain of barriers in emerging markets to their goods and services.
The European Union’s Trade Commissioner, Peter Mandelson, said Sunday the two-day meeting gave a "very clear "yes" to the resumption of talks.
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