A number of developing countries on Friday urged all members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to end their export subsidies by 2010.

"We call for the total elimination of all forms of export subsidies -- the most distorting form of support -- by no later than 2010," the G20 and the Cairns Group said in a joint statement issued Friday at the Dec. 13-18 WTO ministerial conference here.

Farm subsidies, offered by the European Union (EU) and the United States, became a thorny issue in the process of the Doha Round trade talks, which have bogged down in a deadlock.

"Removing distortions and restrictions in international agricultural trade is essential to unlocking the development benefits of trade system," said the G20, which groups major developing countries, including Brazil, China and India.

The EU has been accused of failing to offer deep enough cuts in farm subsidies, which developing countries said have prevented them from competing effectively in the world market.

Ministers from the WTO's 149 members have been meeting here since Tuesday in a new bid to advance the Doha Round, which aims to lift barriers to trade and spur economic growth in developing countries.

The G20 and the Cairns Group consist of 27 countries, covering more than half of the world's population and representing a range of levels of economic development.

Source: Xinhua