The EU rejected a revised proposal to cut international farm trade barriers today, adding to criticism already heard from Japan.
Trade nations are counting down to a March 31st deadline to agree ways to negotiate liberalising the $550 billion (€554 billion) world trade in agriculture products as part of global commerce talks due to end by 2005.
"We do not see this draft as bringing the WTO members closer. Harbinson II is largely identical to the first draft. Severe imbalances remain," European Trade Commissioner Mr Pascal Lamy and Farm Commissioner Mr Franz Fischler said in a statement.
The EU criticised the original draft by WTO chief agriculture mediator Mr Stuart Harbinson when it was issued last month.
It said the paper was unbalanced in its call for export subsidies to be eliminated and import tariffs slashed - as it went much further than proposals by the EU itself.
In the new paper, there was little mention of two key EU demands - to put limits on money spent on export credits and food aid, two strategies the EU says are used by the US to dump surplus output on world markets.
Mr Harbinson made few concessions in his revised version of the reform plan, blaming WTO member states for failing to come up with sufficient compromise suggestions.