African countries demanded on Thursday that the West eliminate farm export subsidies and reduce trade tariffs before a meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in December, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported.

Trade ministers and their representatives from some 30 African countries issued Cairo Declaration after they wrapped up a two-day meeting aimed at uniting position ahead of the gathering in Hong Kong.

"The document proposes that export subsidies should be eliminated by the time of the Hong Kong WTO summit at the end of December," Egyptian Trade Minister Rashid Mohammed Rashid told reporters after the Cairo meeting.

"We came up with the date because developed countries do not want to. They are not interested in giving a date. They are interested in postponing," Tanzanian Minister of Commerce and Industry Juma Ngasongwa said.

As around 40 percent of African countries' total exports are agricultural related, they have long demanded that the United States and the European Union discard farm subsidies.

Thursday's declaration was the first time that African countries proposed a deadline in the global trading system.

Cairo Declaration also expressed concern over the limited progress of development programs included in the Doha Declaration issued by the fourth WTO ministerial conference in 2001.

The previous WTO ministerial meeting was held in Cancun, Mexico, where trade ministers failed to reach a consensus over farm subsidies.

Source: Xinhua