WTO agrees global trade deal worth $1tn
The deal was finally agreed after marathon talks in
Bali
The World Trade Organization has
agreed its first-ever global deal aimed at boosting commerce.
The agreement reached in Bali, Indonesia, simplifies trade procedures and also makes it easier for the poorest countries to sell their goods.
The deal could add nearly $1tn (£617bn) to the global economy, analysts say.
It is seen as an important step for the WTO which has struggled to make new trade agreements, the BBC's economics correspondent Andrew Walker says.
However, the deal was earlier criticised by development campaigners, who said it was not going far enough.
US warning
"It is so agreed," Indonesian Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan said at the Bali meeting, following marathon negotiations between trade ministers from 159 nations that lasted well into the early hours of Saturday morning.
"For the first time in our history, the WTO has truly delivered," said WTO chief Roberto Azevedo, as the organisation reached its first comprehensive agreement since it was founded in 1995.
"This time the entire membership came together. We have put the 'world' back in World Trade Organization," he said.
The deal reduces barriers to exports from the poorest countries. It also gives developing nations more scope to use subsidies to safeguard food supplies.
One major sticking point had been India's insistence that it should be allowed to subsidise grain, under its new food security law.
The US and other members had said the programme broke WTO rules. An eventual compromise was found calling for a solution to the issue within four years.
Cuba had also threatened to veto the package, because it said it did not do enough to press the US to lift its trade embargo on the island, but was eventually persuaded to accept the wording of the agreement.
The US trade representative, Michael Froman, had urged the WTO's member economies to work past their differences.
"Leaving Bali this week without an agreement would deal a debilitating blow to the WTO as a forum for multilateral negotiations," Mr Froman said.
"If that happens, the unfortunate truth is that the loss will be felt most heavily by those members who can least afford it."
