MOMBASA, March 2 (Xinhuanet) -- Negotiations on agriculture, services and non-agricultural market access are high on the agendain the WTO mini ministerial meeting to be held in Kenya's coastal town of Mombasa this week, organizers and delegates said here Wednesday.

    Trade ministers and senior officials from 32 World Trade Organization (WTO) members, including key negotiators from the United States, the European Union (EU), India, Brazil and African countries, will discuss their positions and try to pave the way for the sixth WTO ministerial conference in December in Hong Kong.

    "The meeting will take stock of progress on the Doha negotiations, evaluate decisions, inject political momentum to theWTO process and draw clear issues on the development agenda to be achieved at the next ministerial conference in Hong Kong," said Daniel Koech, chief public relations officer in Kenya's Ministry of Trade and Industry.

    Delegates at the meeting will also be reviewing progress in thefarm and industrial negotiations, development issues and moves to cut red tape in trade, he said.

    The meeting is very important in a series of WTO meetings by the end of this year, one delegate who seeks anonymity told Xinhua,adding that developed countries and developing countries have different priorities during the meetings.

    Developed countries want the discussions focusing on the non-agricultural market access, while the developing countries are trying to put more pressure on the issue of reducing agricultural subsidies, he said.

    "The meeting will inject the political momentum needed to push the talks forward at the WTO level and draw clear issues on the development agenda to be achieved by the next Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong," said Mukhisa Kituyi, Kenya's trade minister.

    However, some delegates warned the Kenyan meeting was not likely to come up with concrete and effective results.

    "This is just a place for the members to discuss their positions and they are not likely to make major breakthrough before the crucial Hong Kong meeting in the Doha round of talks," said one delegate.

    The Doha round aims to slash subsidies, tariffs and other barriers to world trade. It also purports to help poor nations usetrade to make their lives better.

    Officially called the Doha Development Agenda (DDA), the round was launched by WTO's fourth ministerial meeting held in Doha, Qatar, in 2001.

    The fifth ministerial, a mid-term review of DDA, was held in Cancun, Mexico, in 2003. However, it collapsed, as significant differences emerged in inclusion of agriculture, special and differential treatment to developing countries and non-agricultural market access (Nama, meaning manufactured goods). A controversy on patents was actually sorted out in August 2003, before the Cancun meeting.

    The talks were set back on track following a meeting in July, 2004, at which the EU agreed to discuss ending its farm export subsidies, enabling members to reach a framework agreement. But the agreement merely reflected a consensus that can take DDA forward.

    The round was supposed to end in December 2004, a deadline thatis now impossible. WTO Director General Supachai Panitchpakdi now expects a resolution could be reached in 2006.

    Some delegates to attend the Mombasa meeting say if the Doha round is to succeed in 2006, WTO members will have to advance significantly towards an agreement by the time of the WTO's sixth ministerial meeting in Hong Kong in December. The Mombasa meeting is the first of a number of key discussions before this meeting. Enditem ¡¡