Negotiators reconvened at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on Thursday to address the remaining challenges in reaching an agreement on agriculture, which is seen as essential for finalizing a deal in the Doha free trade round. The landscape for these discussions has shifted significantly since the round began in 2001, with a focus on eliminating rich-country farming subsidies and tariffs that disadvantaged poor farmers. Recent changes, such as elevated food prices reducing the need for subsidies, concerns about food-price inflation and security, and increased protectionism in wealthy nations, have complicated the negotiations. The nine-day talks led by New Zealand's WTO ambassador Crawford Falconer will center on technical issues, including how to classify and handle sensitive products that nations wish to protect from tariff reductions. Diplomats mentioned that the significant numbers, like the reductions in farm subsidies and tariffs, would be decided by senior politicians at the end of the round. A negotiator from a wealthy country stated that this is the responsibility of ministers, and their role is to prepare and narrow down the options for the ministers to finalize. The success of the Doha process is heavily reliant on agriculture, as it is crucial for developing countries who are expected to benefit the most from the round. Developing nations are pushing for wealthy countries to reduce farm tariffs and subsidies in return for opening their markets to industrial goods and services. One of the unresolved issues in the Geneva talks is how to treat "special products" in agriculture. While WTO members have agreed that developing countries can exempt certain farm products from tariff cuts, there is disagreement on how many can be designated and how they will be treated. The G-33, a group of 45 developing countries, insists that any deal must allow them to fully exempt some special products from tariff cuts, but food-exporting developing nations such as Brazil, Argentina, and Thailand are siding with rich countries in opposing this. Falconer is aiming to narrow the gaps in negotiations during talks this week and next so that he can create a revised negotiating document by the end of the month. The discussions will involve key delegations and cover various aspects of agriculture negotiations, beginning with domestic support this week, then moving on to market access next week, and concluding with export competition, including sensitive topics like cotton. Falconer will update all WTO members on the progress of the talks next Friday. In December, he shared documents summarizing the previous four months of negotiations. They established a timetable for wealthy nations to reduce subsidies and suggested exceptions to the subsidy cuts for new members of the World Trade Organization.