The European Union’s improved offer to allow more farm imports has met with scepticism and disappointment from the EU’s main trading partners, but it has helped move the stalled Doha world trade talks back into negotiating gear.

Having warned this month that the Doha talks faced collapse because of the European blockage over agriculture, Pascal Lamy, the head of the World Trade Organisation, on Sunday described the EU’s proposal as “a serious offer which merits serious discussions”. He added: “Europe and the United States are moving on farm issues. This is what allows the rest of the negotiations to be unblocked.”