Ahead of the upcoming ministerial trade negotiations, officials and diplomats are focused on various issues such as banana imports and protecting product names. Trade experts emphasize that the significance of the talks extends beyond tariff and subsidy cuts, highlighting the international community's ability to address major challenges like the food crisis. World Trade Organisation Chief Economist Patrick Low expressed concern about the implications of a failed trade negotiation on global issues like climate change. WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy has called for a breakthrough in the long-standing Doha round during the Geneva meeting, which is scheduled to start next week. The talks, initiated in 2001 to promote global trade and assist developing countries in overcoming poverty, have faced multiple delays. Negotiators are expressing a new sense of urgency and even some optimism now. Ministers from approximately 30 countries are aiming to finalize the key components of a deal in agriculture and industrial goods next week. This is in order to avoid the talks being overshadowed by the upcoming U.S. elections and change in the White House next year. Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath emphasized the importance of addressing the challenges of finance, food, and fuel in any potential deal. World leaders, including U.S. President George W. Bush and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, have also voiced their support for reaching an agreement. A proposed agreement will involve wealthy countries such as the United States, Japan, and members of the EU reducing farm tariffs and subsidies to allow more access to their food markets. In return, countries like India and Brazil will cut tariffs to give these wealthy countries more access to their markets for industrial goods and services. Negotiators will work on finalizing the details of this framework in the coming months, including thousands of tariff lines, as well as addressing other issues such as fisheries subsidies and rules for unfairly priced imports. The main challenge now is whether ministers can resolve the differences between developed and developing countries. France, the largest food producer in the EU and current EU presidency holder, stated that the EU has made all the concessions it can in agriculture. French Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Idrac stated at a news conference in Brussels that the shared goal is to achieve a rebalancing of the concessions already made by the EU. EU trade chief Peter Mandelson mentioned that he felt EU governments had supported him in seeking more concessions from others in the WTO negotiations. In the WTO's consensus-driven system, each of the 152 members (soon to be 153 with Cape Verde joining) has the power to veto. Developing countries, citing the Doha round's development mandate, argue that they should have to open their markets less than wealthy nations. However, they are being requested to expose subsistence farmers and emerging industries to competition while rich countries continue to protect their farmers. Wealthy nations believe they need to show significant benefits in market access in countries like India and China in order to justify making significant sacrifices in farm protection agreements at home. They argue that South-South trade, where developing countries trade with each other, would result in the biggest gains. While the general belief is that free trade leads to increased prosperity, some non-governmental organizations disagree, claiming that the current Doha proposals could lead to greater poverty for farmers and workers in poor countries and perpetuate dependence on wealthier nations. Anuradha Mittal, executive director of the Oakland Institute, criticized the proposal for going against the ideas of communities and social movements, hindering developing countries from implementing necessary measures to address the crisis. On the other hand, Pascal Lamy, a former EU trade chief, believes strongly in the potential of a Doha deal to reduce distortions in the global trading system for the benefit of impoverished nations. He argues that such a deal would ultimately increase food supplies in the long term and boost confidence in the short term. Lamy sees this as a rare opportunity to provide some positive news in the system, as he does not see any other area where this is possible.