Negotiators from the US, the EU and India has met yesterday in New Delhi, in an effort to save the Doha Round, which had collapsed in the last July. However, the hope for a breakthrough is rather faint.

The United States Trade Representative Susan Schwab, EU commercial commissioner Peter Mandelson, India Minister of Commerce Kamal Nath and Brazil Minister of Foreign Affairs Celso Amorim attended the meeting.

Before going to New Delhi, commissioner Mandelson claimed this meeting to be extremely crucial and urgent. He even warned that if they wouldn’t hasten the progress rate of negotiation, the chance to finalize the Doha Round before the end of this year would fly away.

However, the US and India reckoned that this chance is little due to the great discrepancy within the negotiation.

Developed countries have urged the US and other rich countries to further cut off  farming subsidies while, on the other hand, these countries themselves are being made to open up their farm markets.

Indian Trade Minister Nath said India would rather return without any results in negotiation than get bad ones.

India as well as other developing countries is afraid that if their markets are widely opened as developed countries’ requests, the domestic industries will be hindered. They also kept their agriculture protection policy as 8 out of 10 people in developing countries are living on farming.

WTO officials claim that if parties may reach a consensus on these issues, the Doha Round will be wound up in the next 8 months.

They also claim that all members should speed up the process and duly get improvements so as to province the US Congress in the special prescription for President Bush in presenting and approving trade agreements because his special jurisdiction will come due in late June this year.