the european union on saturday voiced concerns over a draft trade liberalization deal drawn up by world trade organization chief pascal lamy but said it was ready to continue negotiations on the text, dpa reported . as the centre of hong kong was plunged into chaos following violent clashes by anti-globalization protestors and riot police, ministers at the 149-nation wto meeting continued intense negotiations on details of lamy)s compromise text on breaking down global trade barriers. an e.u. spokesman said the 25-nation bloc did not think the package hammered out by lamy following hours of wto discussions was satisfactory. 'it lacks balance and is not what we hoped for,' the spokesman said, adding, however, that it could be improved and the e.u. would continue to negotiate. 'we are here to do business but our negotiating partners have to engage and show flexibility,' the e.u. said. europeans would be 'put under pressure' during the night ahead on setting a 2010 deadline for eliminating export subsidies but 'we will defend our interests', the spokesman added. however, with less than 24 hours to go before the december 18 deadline for completing the talks, brazil and india, which lead the powerful g20 group of developing nations, said they were ready to intensify negotiations on the basis of lamy)s proposals. brazilian foreign minister celso amorim said the 'modest' draft deal could be consolidated in the coming hours. 'it does not pave the way for the future but it does not block it,' amorim told reporters. he said ministers, who have been negotiating in hong kong since december 13, still had 'an evening and one long night to advance'. but he also warned that agreement on a 2010 date for eliminating farm export subsidies remained an 'absolutely essential' point for many countries, especially the poorest. indian commerce minister kamal nath described the compromise deal as a 'step forward from where we were four days ago'. lamy)s draft text promised that countries would 'ensure the parallel elimination of all forms of farm export subsidies and disciplines on all export measures with equivalent effect'. it gave ministers the choice of setting either a 2010 or a 2013 deadline for such a phase-out. the e.u. has so far refused to make such a pledge, saying other countries, including the u.s., must first agree to a comparable vow to eliminate trade-distorting food aid and export credits. in a concession to europe, senior u.s. officials said saturday that if the e.u. ceded on the 2010 end-date for its farm export subsidies, washington would abolish its own export credit programme and accept tougher disciplines to ensure u.s. food aid does not displace commercial sales of farm products. --more
