World's poorest nations suffer most from stalled WTO trade talks: OECD

The world's poorest nations would suffer the most if the Doha Round of World Trade Organization (WTO) talks stalled permanently, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said on Monday.

"Those who will lose most if this round is not relaunched are the small, poor and underdeveloped nations," Raed Safadi, head of the trade policy dialogue division of the OECD, told media.

He said the talks, suspended in July, had not yet irreparably broken down, but instead had been halted to give nations time to reflect.

"It is most important for the least developed nations to have this system working and stable, because this is the only place where they can express their worries and defend their interests," he said.

The Doha Round of talks began in 2001, and was supposed to end at the end of 2006. It's primary aim was the development of more open trade in agricultural production, industry and services.

The talks were halted because the United States, the European Union, Brazil, India, Japan and Australia could not agree on agricultural subsidies or industrial product tariffs.

Source: Xinhua