WTO chief despairs Doha talks failure

GENEVA, Switzerland, July 3 (UPI) -- Failed weekend talks on the World Trade Organization's Doha treaty have threatened the entire future of the anti-poverty measure, the WTO's chief says.

"I will not beat about the bush," WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy said in Geneva after the meeting. "We are now in a crisis."

More than a third of the WTO's 149 members attended, but failed to reach any agreement on implementing the nearly 5-year-old proposal, the EU Observer reported Monday.

The talks ended with finger pointing over who was blocking the attempt to liberalize trade in agriculture, industry and services. Australian Prime Minister John Howard blamed the European Union, saying it was European intransigence on agricultural protection that was putting the negotiations at risk.

For his part, Lamy said the United States must reduce the subsidies it pays to its farmers, while the European Union must also lower the duties on agriculture imports.