Trade ministers from a group of developing countries welcomed a U.S. offer to reduce farm aid but said it didn't go far enough.

"We welcome the fact that it was made, we think that it's a positive step, but there's also an agreement that it's an insufficient step," Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said after a meeting of ministers from G-20, which is led by Brazil and India.

The World Trade Organization's 148 members are supposed to agree on an outline for a global trade deal by year-end. But progress has stalled, largely because of U.S. and European Union farm subsidies.

(Published WashingtonPost.com, October 12, 2005)
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