GENEVA. Dec 31: International negotiations for reducing or eliminating agricultural protectionism, set to begin in early 2000, will be put off until the World Trade Organisation (WTO) clears up its current climate of uncertainty, says IPS.

The failure of the WTO ministerial conference held earlier this month in the US city of Seattle, Washington, took its toll on the institution's planned activities. Including previously mandated negotiations involving agriculture, services and some intellectual property issues.

The fate of these negotiations. as well as much of the WTO's future course, will be decided at the next meeting of the general council, global trade’s highest governing forum in the Intervals between ministerial conferences.

Following the Seattle debacle. the 135 WTO member countries agreed to take time off in order to assess the current status of the multilateral trade system. The ministerial conference took place amid massive street demonstrations and concluded without even the smallest agreement after four days of deliberations.

When the general council decided to call a time-out on Dec 16. it did not announce a date for its next meeting, in which it is to make decisions on vital aspects of WTO operations.

But sources close to the Group of Cairns (15 countries that promote liberalisation of agricultural trade) said the council will reinitiate sessions

between Jan 15 Jan 20.

At that meeting, they assured. general council delegates will established dates for beginning the mandated negotiations and will draft guidelines for the talks.

The Group of Cairns sources acknowledged that their high hopes for broad agricultural trade liberalisation had been deflated by the setback in Seattle. where the world's trade ministers were unable to reach a consensus on convoking a new round of international trade talks to pick up where the Uruguay Round left off In 1994.

Within a general round of trade talks covering several issues. agriculture would have been just one more card on the negotiating table. But options are reduced when all bets are concentrated on three items: agriculture, services and intellectual property.

Given the current situation, some Group of Cairns members prefer those negotiating sessions on the three issues be carried out In a parallel fashion. "So that nobody can speculate on winning benefits on one Issue by giving in on another."

In addition to the Cairns members, other participants in agricultural talks are the United States (which subsidizes its farmers but encourages greater opening of world market) and a group made up of the European Union (EU). Norway. Switzerland. Japan and South Korea — all defenders of farm production and export protections.