World Trade Organisation (WTO) chief Mr Supachai Panitchpakdi warned yesterday that "all of us would be poorer" if a last-ditch bid to save troubled trade talks failed to meet an end-July deadline.

As trade envoys met to give a first response to a draft deal drawn up by him and his fellow chief mediator, Japan's ambassador Mr Shotaro Oshima, Mr Supachai said that member-states must make every effort to reach an accord.

"Failure this month means the continuation of an unsatisfactory status quo (in global trade relations), certainly for the remainder of this year and next and possibly for years to come," he said in a statement.

Such a setback could undermine confidence in the multilateral trading system and possibly lead countries to turn their backs on the WTO altogether and seek "other means of ruling-making in trade".

"All of us would be poorer for such an outcome," he said.

Following the collapse of a ministerial conference last September in Cancun, Mexico, the WTO's 147 member-states have given themselves until the end of July to agree a "road map" for trade reform, notably in farm and industrial goods.

Such a pact would see the WTO's Doha Round of free trade talks, dogged from their launch by big differences between rich and poor, particularly over farm subsidies, back on track.

The blueprint put forward by the chief mediators aims to convince poorer countries that they will win big cuts in rich nation farm subsidies, while offering developed countries more open markets for their industrial goods and services.

For the first time, the EU would agree to set an end date for eliminating farm export subsidies, while all rich states would commit themselves to sharp reductions in all forms of aid to farmers, which developing countries say distorts world trade.

Trade diplomats were cautious as talks got underway in Geneva, with representatives of the G20 and G90 developing country alliances saying that they would only adopt a common position after meetings set for Tuesday.

The G20, led by Brazil, India and South Africa, represents the more affluent developing states, while the G90 includes most of the WTO's poorer nations.

The EU, the only major trade power to react publicly to the blueprint, called it a "step in the right direction," although it would need more work over the coming days.

Negotiations are expected to continue virtually non-stop in the run-up to a meeting of the WTO's executive General Council, due to start on July 27th.