Ministers from 150 members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) were working against the clock to bridge their gaps Saturday as a draft declaration was circulated before the WTO meeting ends Sunday.

The draft, which is still subject to revision, suggested the target date of 2010 to end export subsidies.

The European Union (EU), which was blamed for reluctance to offer deep enough cuts in farm subsidies, had been refusing to endorse the 2010 deadline unless poor countries open their markets for industrial goods.

Defending EU's position, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said the developing world seemed to expect the 25-member bloc to make more concessions in agriculture.

"In other words, pay more to get less in return," he said. "We are going to stick to our position."

At the same time, representatives of European farmers told a press conference on Saturday that they firmly opposed the proposed date of ending farm subsidies.

The circulated draft also called on rich countries to eliminate export subsidies for cotton by 2006, but failed to set a specific date for establishing a formula for cutting tariffs and subsidies on agricultural trade and the non-agricultural market access (NAMA) -- industrial goods.

The West African cotton-growing countries had been asking the United States, the world's second largest cotton exporter, to remove its domestic support for American cotton growers, but Washington refused to give concrete promises.

The draft also failed to suggest a date for completion of negotiations on the service trade.

But the WTO members agreed in the draft to grant duty-free and quota-free market access to some 50 least-developed countries (LCDs) in the world.

The biennial meeting, which aims to advance the deadlocked Doha Round trade talks, will end on Sunday with a ministerial declaration, vowing to conclude the Doha Round by the end of 2006.

(Xinhua News Agency December 18, 2005)