EU, Japan, Others Agree Common Trade Front
South Korea, Hungary, Switzerland and Turkey are also backing the document, which will be put on the table at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting being held here from Nov. 30-Dec. 3.
The joint document is an initiative by the 15-nation EU, which wants to kick-start stalled negotiations on the scope of future trade liberalisation talks.
The EU, Japan and other countries that signed up to the text are supporters of a comprehensive new round of global trade negotiations. Together, they account for more than 30 percent of world exports of goods.
But they face resistance from the United States and other WTO member countries which want a narrower agenda for new talks. Months of preparatory talks in Geneva failed to break the deadlock, leaving ministers with a tough task to broker an agreement at the four-day Seattle conference.
Most of the backers of the text are under attack from the Australian-led Cairns group of major food exporters and the United States for resisting abolition of farm subsidies.
On agriculture, the document says the negotiations should "continue the ongoing process of fundamental reform directed at achieving a fair and market-oriented agricultural trading system ..."
Negotiations would cover reduction in all forms of assistance to exports and reductions in trade-distorting domestic support, under the proposals.
But the paper repeats a controversial Japanese and EU demand for the "multifunctional" role of agriculture to be recognised. The EU argues that its farmers deserve compensation for protecting the environment and keeping rural areas economically viable.
On anti-dumping - a sensitive point with the United States - the document proposes that rules should be reviewed and clarified. Developing countries frequently complain at the way rich countries apply anti-dumping duties on imports they believe are being sold at below production cost.
As an immediate step at Seattle, the document proposes that WTO members should agree not to reopen investigations against the same product within a year of closing a previous case.
Washington opposes changes to existing anti-dumping laws.
The paper calls for negotiations on substantially reducing tariffs on industrial products and advocates negotiations on multilateral investment and competition rules.
The United States opposes discussing investment and competition rules in a new trade round.
The joint document is an initiative by the 15-nation EU, which wants to kick-start stalled negotiations on the scope of future trade liberalisation talks.
The EU, Japan and other countries that signed up to the text are supporters of a comprehensive new round of global trade negotiations. Together, they account for more than 30 percent of world exports of goods.
But they face resistance from the United States and other WTO member countries which want a narrower agenda for new talks. Months of preparatory talks in Geneva failed to break the deadlock, leaving ministers with a tough task to broker an agreement at the four-day Seattle conference.
Most of the backers of the text are under attack from the Australian-led Cairns group of major food exporters and the United States for resisting abolition of farm subsidies.
On agriculture, the document says the negotiations should "continue the ongoing process of fundamental reform directed at achieving a fair and market-oriented agricultural trading system ..."
Negotiations would cover reduction in all forms of assistance to exports and reductions in trade-distorting domestic support, under the proposals.
But the paper repeats a controversial Japanese and EU demand for the "multifunctional" role of agriculture to be recognised. The EU argues that its farmers deserve compensation for protecting the environment and keeping rural areas economically viable.
On anti-dumping - a sensitive point with the United States - the document proposes that rules should be reviewed and clarified. Developing countries frequently complain at the way rich countries apply anti-dumping duties on imports they believe are being sold at below production cost.
As an immediate step at Seattle, the document proposes that WTO members should agree not to reopen investigations against the same product within a year of closing a previous case.
Washington opposes changes to existing anti-dumping laws.
The paper calls for negotiations on substantially reducing tariffs on industrial products and advocates negotiations on multilateral investment and competition rules.
The United States opposes discussing investment and competition rules in a new trade round.
