Negotiators Burn Midnight Oil As Anothe Deadline Passes

It is now 0040 on Tuesday morning in Geneva and we are about to call it a day.

Talks continue at small group level - G7 (G6 plus China).

There seems to have been no progress yet. China and India are standing firm as are the US and EU.

This Bloomberg report summarises the issues on the table. Unfortunately this impass is standing in the way of the new texts on agriculture and Nama that were due out yesterday. Will Ministers just run out of time at this Ministerial - already some are leaving?

World Trade Organization talks may collapse because India and China have refused to support a compromise deal worked out in the last few days, the U.S. said.
``There is a real threat to the delicate balance that we achieved on Friday night and I'm very concerned that it will jeopardize the outcome of this round,'' U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab told journalists in Geneva today. ``There's a real risk because those countries are advocating selectively reopening the package.''
The current negotiations mark the last chance to strike a deal on cutting tariffs and subsidies in agriculture and manufactured goods before the U.S. presidential election in November. Failure to lock up an accord may delay the Doha Round of talks for years because of changes in the U.S. administration and at the European Commission.
WTO chief Pascal Lamy told delegates earlier today that negotiators had made ``very important progress'' since talks on an accord in agriculture and industrial goods began eight days ago. ``There is now a very high level of convergence on many subjects,'' he said, adding that he expected to release new proposals later in the day aimed at liberalizing trade in farm and industrial products. That's no longer likely to happen today.
`Backtracking'
India and China refuse to accept key elements of a compromise put forth by Lamy three days ago and refined by ministers over the weekend, according to the U.S. India never endorsed the proposal and China is now ``backtracking'' in its support, Schwab said.
The key sticking point for India is the threshold for special safeguard measures, which allow developing countries to boost their agriculture tariffs to shield domestic farmers in case of a surge in imports. The proposed mechanism permits duties to rise when imports climb over 40 percent -- a level India says is too high to protect its farmers.
India wants the trigger set at 10 percent, a position supported by 100 developing nations that are concerned about the future of their farming industries in light of rising food prices, according to Commerce Minister Kamal Nath.
Still, India says it's not trying to torpedo the talks. ``We are continuing with these discussions and I'm still optimistic,'' Nath told journalists.
China dismissed the U.S. criticism, saying it's made concessions that demonstrate its commitment to a global trade deal and willingness to compromise.
U.S. Rigidity
``We have tried very hard to contribute to the success of the round,'' WTO Ambassador Sun Zhenyu said. It's U.S. rigidity in areas such as sensitive products and trade-distorting farm subsidies that is impeding the talks, he said.
Optimism had grown about the prospects for an accord since governments accepted Lamy's proposals as the basis for further talks. Trade ministers returned yesterday to thorny issues in the areas of agriculture and manufactured goods following a one-day shift to service-industry disputes, a priority for wealthy economies such as the U.S. and the European Union.
WTO talks have moved in fits and starts since beginning in November 2001 as industrialized and emerging markets clashed over how open up trade. Lamy has estimated that a deal would add as much as $100 billion to the global economy at a time when slowing growth and soaring food and fuel prices are undercutting living standards around the world.