Talks to extend free trade have opened in the Qatari capital of Doha amid warnings that failure to open a new round of trade negotiations could plunge the world into recession.
Mr Mike Moore, director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), told ministers from 142 countries that the world economy needed a signal to prevent full-scale recession.
"Whether that happens depends very much on the factor of confidence - among other things confidence that governments will not give way to the temptation of protectionism. The state of the world economy and the threat of protectionism demand a clear commitment by governments to sustain and strengthen the international trading system and resolve their differences by negotiation," he said.
The US trade representative, Mr Robert Zoellick, said yesterday that the attacks on New York and Washington and the international fight against terrorism added to the urgency of making a deal in Doha.
"In the aftermath of September 11th, the nations of the world face a choice: to retreat in fear and isolation or to advance in openness and positive engagement. We have an opportunity here to harvest the energising power of trade."
The WTO ministerial conference, which is taking place amid an unprecedented level of security, aims to agree an agenda for a round of trade negotiations that would take a number of years and would extend international free trade. Ministers failed to launch such a round two years ago in Seattle but, as they arrived in Doha, most expressed confidence that they would succeed this time.
The meeting is likely to be dominated by arguments over the widening gap between rich and poor countries and the complaint of developing nations that they have not benefited sufficiently from trade liberalisation. The EU Trade Commissioner, Mr Pascal Lamy, said the poorer countries' complaints were well founded and he promised to argue for a fairer implementation of trade rules.
"There remains a problem in the fact that a number of African countries feel - and rightly so - that they haven't benefited as much as they should have from trade opening and market liberalisation," he said.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh and the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mr Tom Kitt, are attending the meeting.
The EU faces calls from the US and developing countries to abolish export subsidies and other forms of aid to farmers. The EU Agriculture Commissioner, Mr Franz Fischler, said he did not believe disagreements over agriculture should prevent a new trade round from being launched.
"We are ready for a deal, we are prepared for give and take. If our partners play the same game, we will succeed in launching a trade round where everyone wins," he said.
Some developing countries, led by India, oppose launching a new round of trade talks before problems in implementing existing trade rules are resolved. But Mr Moore insisted that a new round was in the interest of everyone, especially poorer countries.
"Revenues are falling and jobs are being shed in nations of both North and South. If we slide into a full-scale recession all will suffer, but it is certain that the suffering will be greatest among the developing countries, especially the poorest and weakest among them - because they live on the margin," he said.
