Now that the smoke and fire have cleared from the suspension of the Doha talks, we should ask what phoenix can be summoned from the ashes. The current stalemate is due more to politics than personalities. All parties are exporting domestic political constraints into the negotiations.

Europe will go as far as its 2003 agricultural reform programme will allow. Some in Europe would like to go further. But there is no political consensus for this – certainly not when people see what is being offered in return. The US, which has not yet embarked on reform of its farm subsidies, does not want its changes to be prescribed by the World Trade Organisation. Some advanced developing countries are demanding more access to others’ farm markets. The rest insist on maintaining tariffs so as to protect farm markets. Both demand an end to trade distorting subsidies in the rich world.