The World Trade Organization (WTO) reopened multinational trade negotiations in Geneva Wednesday to discuss the thorny issue of farm trade.

The major bone of contention at the three-day consultations is market access for farm products. Developing countries want an end to the subsidies given to farmers of rich countries while developed nations oppose the high tariffs slapped on goods by their less-developed trading partners.

Some 20 developing countries, including Brazil, China and India, proposed a progressive formula for reducing farm tariffs that would impose sharper reductions in the higher farm tariffs.

Meanwhile, agriculture importers, including South Korea and Japan, have submitted a joint proposal opposing tariff caps and the compulsory expansion of tariff quotas, stressing the need to protect sensitive products, such as rice.