U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab speaking at a trade conference in New Delhi, on Friday says, India will play a crucial role if a new global free trade treaty is to be hammered out by the end of 2007 as its stand will shape the view of developing countries. India is in a profoundly important position in these negotiations - one of a handful of countries that can make or break the Doha round. - Reuters

Top trade representatives from six key member-nations of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have proposed a new year-end deadline to complete negotiations on a treaty to liberalise global commerce, a joint statement said.

The WTO's Doha round of negotiations, named after the capital of Qatar where the talks began in 2001, have been stalled over rich nations' refusal to slash farm subsidies - and poor countries' reluctance to grant greater access to their markets.

The talks have missed several deadlines, the last being December 2006.

The proposal for a new deadline came Thursday, after negotiators from the United States, European Union, Brazil and India - or the G-4, which is how they are known within the 150-member WTO - held formal talks for the first time since they suspended the Doha round last July.

Ministers from Australia and Japan also attended.

"We believe that by intensifying our work, we can reach convergence and thus contribute to concluding the round by the end of 2007," the statement said.

U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said Washington was "willing to do more than its part" to expedite a deal.

"My assessment is if we can translate the sense of urgency into action it is a realisable goal," Schwab said.

Attempts to revive the process at informal meetings in recent months have failed, as the United States has refused to offer deeper cuts to the billions of dollars in farm subsidies that help its farmers sell cheaper exports in the global market.

The U.S. stance has prompted the EU to resist further cuts in tariffs that protect its own farmers.

Both the U.S. and the EU also want greater access to manufactured goods markets in countries like Brazil and India.

Differences over duty cuts held up progress in the Doha round and the meetings in New Delhi did not make any major breakthrough.

Still, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said: "I think this has been a much better meeting than some had predicted."

Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said the New Delhi talks were not meant for a breakthrough.

Roadmap for intensive talks

He said participants agreed on a roadmap for intensive talks over the next few months, including another meeting of the G-4 in mid-May.

The meetings in New Delhi focused on agricultural subsidies and tariffs; measures to enhance exports from the least-developed countries; and concessions for poorer nations wanting to protect some of their domestic industries.

Brazil's Foreign and Trade Minister Celso Amorim said his country will not sign an agreement that hurts poorer nations. But "if we don't finish (the round) in the foreseeable future, I think a lot will be at risk," he said.

A further delay could cause the Doha round to be overshadowed by the 2008 presidential election in the United States, the world's largest economic power.

- A.P.