Developing states cut tariffs on South-South trade

By Jonathan Lynn and Jason Rhodes

GENEVA (Reuters) - Twenty-two developing nations agreed on Wednesday to slash tariffs on manufactured products in a bid to boost South-South trade in the absence of progress in the Doha round.

Ministers gathered in Geneva for a World Trade Organisation meeting avoided engaging in negotiations about Doha but pledged to shortly take stock of the prospects for that intended accord, now in its ninth year of talks.

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy said at a press conference that a breakthrough would be needed by the end of March for the deal to be completed in 2010, as heads of state have pledged to do at several G20 summits this year.

"End of March next year is probably the moment when we will know whether or not 2010 remains doable," he said.

While the deadline was not necessarily firm, Lamy said all efforts to edge the accord to signature were welcome. "Anything that takes us nearer to the finishing line is a good thing."

Developing countries sought in Geneva to show they are supportive of trade liberalisation and were not to blame for the inertia that has plagued the Doha negotiations.

Jorge Taiana, foreign minister of Argentina, said the South-South pact showed developing countries were keen to clinch deals to expand trade.

"This is a clear demonstration that the developing countries are willing to continue working on strengthening South-South trade and in a process of liberalisation compatible with development," Taiana told a news conference.