WTO to rich nations: Can your subsidies

GENEVA, Switzerland, July 24 (UPI) -- The latest report on international commerce from Switzerland's World Trade Organization says rich nation subsidies hurt global wealth creation.

The WTO said Monday that 21 developed countries spent almost $250 billion last year on subsidies, for a ratio of subsidies to gross domestic product that is more than double the average found in developing economies.

Such politically provocative policies, the main reason the Doha round of trade talks appear fruitless, are further exacerbated by the lack of consensus about what constitutes government aid to domestic industries plus a pattern of concealment.

Few WTO member countries "fully meet their notification obligations under the WTO, contributing to a serious lack of information and transparency on the use and effect of subsidies. The absence of systematic information is aggravated by the lack of common definitions of subsidy practices."

WTO Director General Pascal Lamy said the only answer to widespread government aid among rich nations is political "determination and courage."