which should have been finished by 2004, but has been dogged by wrangling over subsidies and long-protected markets -- reaches its next milestone when the ministers meet in Hong Kong in December. A blueprint agreed last year set out broad principles for continuing work on areas including farm trade and industrial tariffs, but WTO states now have just three months to sew up some key deals. Negotiators are bogged down over how to slash rich state farm subsidies, give poor country producers a better deal, and open up markets across the globe for goods and services such as telecommunications and tourism. Failure to meet some deadlines by July would jeopardise the chances of a draft deal in Hong Kong, itself a crucial step if the negotiations are to be completed in 2006 as planned. --More 1955 Local Time 1655 GMT
