EU Trade Commissioner Mr Pascal Lamy has played down a missed World Trade Organisation (WTO) deadline on agriculture talks and called for a "more realistic approach" in trade liberalisation.

WTO members failed to meet the March 31st deadline to establish parameters for talks on further liberalising farm trade, a key element of the overall trade liberalisation plan.

Mr Lamy said he was disappointed. "But let's not over-dramatise it either: deadlines are there to focus minds, to get people to clarify their positions. This has largely been achieved."

Agriculture has proved a crucial stumbling block in the implementation of the WTO's Doha round of trade reform, which is due to be completed by the end of 2004. The Doha talks also cover other trade areas including services and industrial tariffs such as anti-dumping measures.

Mr Lamy, who is on a tour of several south-east Asian countries, warned that "an over-ambitious stance will not be of help to bridge the current gaps. What we need is a more realistic approach and less tactics," he said. - (Reuters)