World Trade Organisation chief Pascal Lamy said on Wednesday he does not expect any breakthrough in talks to liberalise global commerce before the end of this year.

"I don't expect a breakthrough, a major development before the end of this year," the WTO Director General told journalists.

Lamy said he still believes a deal can be reached over the course of 2008, despite presidential elections in the United States in November.

"It's cooking, it's moving," he said of the process.

"But some civilisations know that very good cooking can sometimes be very slow."

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The WTO's Doha round has been bogged down for the past six years in disputes between developed and developing countries over agricultural subsidies and industrial tariffs.

The heads of negotiating groups on both issues had hoped to issue revised texts by mid-November to serve as the basis of any final agreement, but sources said earlier this week that any new text on agriculture is now not likely until February.

There have been some signs of convergence in recent weeks, most notably over export subsidies, but many substantial disagreements remain, the sources said.

Chief agricultural negotiator Crawford Falconer issued his first draft text in July, where he called on the US to cut subsidies to between 13-16.4 billion dollars (9-11.2 billion euros).

Washington has said it is prepared to negotiate within this range, but developing countries say it is insufficient.

© AFP 2007

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