Agriculture ministers from five major farm trading economies remained divided over how to cut farm tariffs and subsidies on Saturday, the end of their two-day meeting in Nara.
The ministers, from Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan and the United States, agreed, however, to continue discussions to lead the rest of the world toward farm policy reform, while moving ahead with their own efforts, a Japanese farm official said.
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tsutomu Takebe, who hosted the meeting, wrapped up the session by conceding that participants had been unable to bridge differences about the pace of reforms, but pointed to their agreement on the overall need for reform, the official said.
The ministers met to discuss how to proceed with the World Trade Organization's farm negotiations, scheduled to set overall targets and members' farm policy reform methods by March, as part of a three-year trade round launched in November in Doha.