Aware that the impenetrability of its language is hindering public understanding of its work, the WTO is working on 'dejargonising and demystifying the negotiation process' - a mouthful of a statement in itself.

'This negotiation has become such a complicated matter, full of jargon and technical terms, that ultimately the companies that are affected by this agreement won't understand,' said Ramamurti Badrinath, director of the International Trade Centre's trade support division.

He was speaking as government officials and business executives from 30 countries discussed globalisation issues in Macau.

The Geneva-based trade centre - a co-ordinator between the business world, the WTO and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development - is already making an effort to publish brief and comprehensible newsletters and guidebooks.

'For some agreements, if you look at the original text it is over 1,000 pages. If you take the annexes and the schedules, it becomes 35,000 pages,' Mr Badrinath said. 'We have written a business guide that is only 400 pages long in simple language that everyone can understand.'

That might help the uninitiated understand that 'multilateralising regionalism' refers to the process of bringing regional trade agreements between WTO members closer to the world body's broader framework.

Or that 'green box' and 'red box' refer to a traffic-light code that indicates whether something is allowed, prohibited or simply to be discouraged - an 'amber box'.

But others say jargon is sometimes unavoidable. What matters is the spirit of the agreements reached, said Philippine trade undersecretary Thomas Aquino.