Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said on Monday world trade talks that collapsed last month are not dead, even as he focused attention on shoring up the South American trade bloc Mercosur.

"The failure to reach consensus in the Doha Round in Geneva is not synonymous with paralysis," Amorim said

"We are making progress on several points," he said.

Brazil has been making efforts in recent weeks to revive the negotiations held under the auspices of the World Trade Organization. India, too, is saying it would like to return to the negotiating table.

The talks ended in July with no deal, because of differences between developed and developing countries over farmer protections. A key issue blocking a pact was a dispute between India and the United States over cotton.

Poor bear brunt

Amorim said the collapse "affected the poor countries the worst, because agricultural barriers and subsidies deprived populations in the poor countries of the opportunity to compete in the world market, retarding their development."

He was speaking at a meeting of the Mercosur parliament, which represents the trade bloc grouping Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Venezuela is scheduled to also soon join the bloc.

With a WTO deal out of reach, Brazil is concentrating on Mercosur as a way of improving trade prospects as well as laying the political groundwork for political unity among South American nations should world trade negotiations resume.

Amorim said Brazil intended to reactivate Mercosur's talks with the European Union which had been put on ice since 2004.

Brazil also planned to push for the abolition of double customs tariffs on goods within the regional bloc, and to find a way of sharing customs revenues.

AFP