The developing members, represented by the United States and India, are unwilling to make concessions on a deal to help poor farmers cope with the threat of a large number of imported goods. The 7 year Doha round of talks broke down on Tuesday.

EU Trade Commissioner Mandelson said this is a very painful failure. When we really need the good news, it will bring a setback to the global economy, and developing countries will be the most affected groups.

WTO director general Lamy also said that the breakup of the Doha round was a "heavy blow" and the members of the meeting could not bridge their differences.

But Rami, director general of WTO, said he would not "surrender" and would do his best to push the negotiations back on track.

The Doha round is deadlocked on the issue of "special safeguard mechanism" aimed at helping poor countries to protect their farmers from the surge in imports.

The developing countries represented by India called for the mechanism to protect the economic interests of millions of farmers in China, hoping to relax the bottom line of the mechanism.

But the United States is afraid that the new market will lose its own agriculture.