Rich countries will get away with making no reductions to their massive agricultural subsidies and could even increase them if world trade negotiations do not change track, international agency Oxfam warned in a new report.

The report availed here Wednesday says this would have devastating consequences for the developing world and could undermine trade as the vital "third pillar" -- after aid and debt relief -- in the fight against global poverty.

"Alongside aid and debt, trade reform is crucial to help end poverty in the developing world, and yet this report shows that progress at the World Trade Organization (WTO) is negligible," said Celine Charveriat, head of Oxfam International's Make Trade Fair Campaign.

"Rich countries are dodging the commitments they have made to reduce subsidies that hurt poor farmers overseas. At the same time, they are forcing poor countries to open their markets to unfairly subsidized produce. This duplicity threatens to turn the whole round of 'development' talks into a farce," Charveriat noted.

The report said the European Union and the United States have made large payouts to their biggest farmers. This, the British charity says causes overproduction and export-dumping, undermining poor producers overseas.

According to Oxfam's report titled "A Round for Free," rich countries have been redefining rather than reducing subsidies at the WTO.

As a result, overall farm support in developed countries has not changed since 1986, and still stands at over 250 billion US dollars per year in real terms.

"This is a scandalous betrayal of the developing countries that put their faith in the WTO system. As we approach the Group of Eight (G8) summit, the focus is on aid and debt relief, which are vitally important and could help create the circumstances in which poor countries could benefit from global trade," said Charveriat.

The report alleges that despite rich countries' pledges to eliminate export subsidies, this is unlikely to happen until 2016 at the earliest and large levels of disguised payments will remain.

It reveals that the United States pays out the equivalent of 6. 6 billion dollars in hidden export support a year to its farmers -- two hundred times more than it declares to the WTO.

The European Union, the report says, pays 5.2 billion dollars -- four times the reported amount.

It calls for an end-date of 2010 for export subsidies, a reduction of other rich country payments that distort trade, and recognition of the right for poor countries to protect vulnerable sectors.

Source: Xinhua