France appeals for WTO focus on world's poorest states

France seeks focus on poor states While lowering expectations for the HK meeting, minister digs in on farm policy

France's Trade Minister Christine Lagarde has called for next month's World Trade Organisation meeting in Hong Kong to focus on the development needs of the world's poorest countries as she lent her voice to a cautionary chorus that is seeking to lessen expectations of a comprehensive agreement on agriculture, industrial goods and services.

'There will not be consensus and there will not be major progress [in Hong Kong],' Ms Lagarde said in an interview with the South China Morning Post. 'However, on the development front, I would hope that we can really deliver for the least developed countries.'

French trade officials hope that a renewed emphasis on development - the stated objective of the current Doha negotiating round - will help improve the European Union's defensive bargaining posture on agriculture issues which, Ms Lagarde says, has been 'misunderstood' by trading partners.

The EU and its trade commissioner, Peter Mandelson, have been under intense pressure to offer bigger tariff cuts on agricultural imports in the run-up to the Hong Kong ministerial meeting, which will bring together trade ministers from the WTO's 148 member countries.

As Europe's largest farm producer and home to the continent's most powerful farmer lobby, France has been reluctant to give ground on agriculture without reciprocal market access concessions for industrial goods and services.

To the frustration of French officials, Mr Mandelson has been forced twice to extend offers on agricultural market access but has yet to receive any counter offers from developing nations on industrial goods or services. 'There's been a lot of work put into the agricultural debate,' Ms Lagarde noted. 'But there's been very, very little in those areas that are of real concern to developed nations.