The European Union and the United States have denied that they are attempting to break up a group of 21 developing countries that have formed a single negotiating bloc at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks in Cancún.
Mrs Mary Robinson, who is in Cancún as honorary president of Oxfam, accused the EU and US of resorting to "divide and rule" tactics to break up the group, known as the G21.
"The subsidy superpowers, the US and EU, are turning on developing countries, sowing the seeds of division, and doing everything but address the core problem, which is export dumping. If there is going to be a deal on agriculture, they will have to radically shift their position," she said.
EU Trade Commissioner Mr Pascal Lamy acknowledged that the EU and the US were co-operating at Cancún but he denied that they were attempting to divide the developing countries.
"Do we have a joint EU-US strategy for exploding the G21? No. The G21 are fine. We know what G's are. We are a big G25 [EU members and accession states]. There is no animosity on our side," he said.
The formation of the G21, which is led by Brazil, India and China, has changed the dynamic at the WTO talks, which have in the past seen powerful alliances of rich countries determining the agenda. Mrs Robinson suggested that the EU and the US were targeting the developing countries as a way of deflecting attention from their own failure to make the present round of trade negotiations a development round.
"The truth is the rich countries have so far reneged on their commitment at Doha to put development at the heart of the trade round. Blaming developing countries for becoming more assertive in the face of such inertia will solve nothing," she said.
The Minister of State for Trade, Mr Michael Ahern, told delegates at Cancún yesterday that the Republic was committed to the continued liberalisation of world trade in a multilateral system.
"Ireland's economic development would not have been possible without the existence of an open multilateral trading system with fair, transparent and predictable rules. By strengthening the present system we can lay the foundation stone for the future prosperity of all - developed and developing countries alike," Mr Ahern said.
He welcomed the accession of Cambodia and Nepal to the WTO, adding that increasing developing country membership of the organisation confirmed the role that trade could play in development.
"In saying this, I recognise that trade liberalisation is not an end in itself, it is a means for achieving economic and social development. The WTO provides a level playing field where all participants contribute to making and upholding a rules-based system of economic governance," he said.
A protest today against the WTO meeting is likely to be smaller than expected following the suicide on Wednesday of a Korean farm activist amid violent clashes with police.
