The government today said it believes a negotiation framework for stalled World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks can be agreed by a July deadline because countries do not want to be labelled stumbling blocks.

Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz also rejected predictions by the major economic powers that world trade would suffer if the WTO talks failed and hit out at them for often prodding developing nations to compromise whilst not changing their own stance.

"I don't think the world will collapse, business will still go on. It's the economic majors that are making these very preachy kind of statements," she said at a dialogue with a Singaporean business delegation led by her counterpart George Yeo.

"They say we must move yet they are the ones like the 'Rock of Gibraltar,' not moving. They also always move at the last minute and not (by) a distance that we want them to move."

Rafidah, however, hailed the European Union's (EU) recent offer to scrap agricultural export subsidies and to set aside new controversial issues to focus on trade facilitation in a bid to relaunch the Doha Round of WTO talks.

"If by July we see some actual interpretation of the desires to move forward by the EU, perhaps in terms of (how big) the cutback (will be) and the framework for those cutbacks clearly spelled out, there might be a willigness also by the others to negotiate," she said

"I believe by July, there might be something. People are serious now. Countries do not want to be identified as the stumbling blocks and as a result of that, there probably will be some consensus on how to move forward on the framework."

Trade disputes

The Doha round, launched in the Qatar capital in 2001, stalled after last September's collapse of ministerial talks in Cancun, Mexico, owing largely to disputes over government subsidies to farmers in rich countries, and over the EU and Japan's insistence the WTO extend its mandate to new areas as investment, competition policy, government procurement and trade facilitation.

Singapore Trade Minister Yeo urged other developed countries to match the EU's flexibility, warning that the failure to revive the WTO talks would lead to more trade disputes between countries.

"As countries resort to litigation to resolve problems rather than to negotiate, there will be negative impact on global business and the economy," he said.

"If we don't succeed again ... (countries) will turn to other alternatives and this will be very damaging. Businessmen may not realise it now but bit by bit, the global climate will sour and that's not good for everybody.

"It is extremely important to get the Doha round back on track. We have to preserve hope in the international trading system."

Officials said prevailing imbalances in global trade were costing the developing world a lot and relaunching the Doha trade talks was crucial, with most estimates indicating benefits that could amount to as much as 500 billion dollars annually from a satisfactory deal. - AFP