WTO deal seen having little impact on food prices

By Jonathan Lynn and Missy Ryan

GENEVA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Soaring food prices have surfaced as a big concern in the delicately poised agriculture negotiations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

But because any WTO deal will have an impact only in the long term, the Geneva talks will not offer a solution to the immediate crisis, diplomats and officials say.

A doubling of the prices of major cereals on international markets since mid-2007 has sharply increased the risk of hunger and poverty in developing countries where many people spend the bulk of their household income on food.

Already food riots and protests have been seen across Asia and Africa, and Haiti's government has fallen. International aid agencies are struggling to feed people in their care.

The response of some nations, to slap export duties or other restrictions on food, has raised questions at the WTO, and also in the minds of economists looking at the impact of such moves.

"There's no question the price of food ... puts pressure on the agriculture negotiations," said Marietta Bernot, global trade and customs adviser to U.S. confectioner Mars.

Bernot was representing Mars, a major buyer of sugar, on a big delegation of U.S. business lobbyists to the WTO this week.