The members of G20 -- the grouping of developing countries including India -- have reiterated that any framework text on agriculture under the World Trade Organisation must be consistent with the Doha mandate.

The G20 has also said trade-distorting support should be reduced and food and livelihood concerns of the developing countries should be considered.

"Any framework text must be fully consistent with the Doha mandate and lead to the establishment of modalities capable of ensuring substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support, substantial increase in market access, phasing-out with a view to elimination of all forms of export subsidies and operation and effective special and differential treatment, that takes into account food and livelihood security and rural development needs," a ministerial communiqué issued after a meeting of the G-20 at Sao Paulo said.

Noting that the meeting had taken place at a crucial time when WTO members were trying to reach an agreement on a framework for agricultural negotiations by July-end 2004, the communiqué asserted that interest and concerns of developing members would have to be paramount in the negotiations and special and differential treatment for developing countries fully reflected in the outcome.

The ministers stressed that a number of important and sensitive issues remained to be tackled with regard to domestic support.

"For achieving substantial reduction of domestic subsidies there must be deep cuts in the sum of overall trade-distorting support. Improved disciplines in domestic distorting support are required to avoid product and box shifting," the communiqué said.

The ministers welcomed the fact that the G20 document on market access had prompted renewed substantive discussions on the market access issue in agriculture and allowed for better understanding of each member's position.

G20 member countries also expressed their common belief that South-South trade -- increased trade flow among developing countries -- would be a major contribution to enhancing their integration into global trade as a whole and stressed the importance of launching a third round of negotiations under the Global System of Trade Preferences among developing countries during UNCLAD XI.

Meanwhile, India has offered to host the next ministerial meeting of the G20, formed ahead of the Cancun ministerial to oppose anti-third world stance of the US and EU in the contentious farm negotiations at the WTO talks.

The offer was made by Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath during a bilateral meeting with Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim.

During the meeting, both Kamal Nath and Amorim stressed the need for consolidation of the group on agriculture, which was important not only for G20 but for all WTO member countries.