Aid agencies in trade plea

Riots in Seattle have created doubts about Doha

Aid agencies have called on the developed world to heed the trade concerns of poorer countries even if talks in Doha are cancelled.

The new round of world trade talks scheduled to start in November are still on the cards, according to diplomats thrashing out the agenda at a weekend meeting in Singapore. But the venue - Doha, in Qatar - is looking increasingly doubtful.

Aid agencies say that it is even more important than ever to pay attention to the needs of developing countries.

Talks may not be held in Doha

"Richer countries want a stable multilateral system more than ever before," Duncan Green, policy analyst at Catholic aid agency Cafod told the BBC's World Business Report.

"Suddenly, the US is listening to developing countries in a way it wasn't listening to them earlier. It has to keep this coalition together," he added.

Developing countries argue that the benefits from the last round have yet to trickle down to them, and accuse their richer neighbours of blocking or foot-dragging on agreements which would benefit the poor.

"The least developed countries...are very disappointed with the lack of attention they are getting," he added.

"The EU and US do not want to see the WTO destroyed at the moment...they realise they have to take developing country' concerns seriously," he said.

Farmers' concerns

Smaller farmers in developing countries are particularly badly hit by trade rules that see their markets flooded with exports from Western competitors.

Caritas International's zone co-ordinator Margaret Mwaniki called for "good trade rules to benefit the poor farmers".

"We are also saying we want to have a sober dialogue on effect of rules of world trade on the poor so that instead of bringing in unfair competition, we see how poor is going to be integrated into the whole process of trade," she said.

Aid agencies argue that small farmers need to have either money or the ability to shut the door to imports.

"It is really not a level playing field. The average farmer in Europe and the US gets $20,000 a year from the government before they plant a seed," Cafod's Duncan Green said.

"Developing countries need more ability to be able to protect their small farmers....They need to be able to say we are not going to import maize if it destroys ability of their maize farmers," he added.