Four days after he suspended five years of Doha Round negotiations owing to a failure by six major trading powers to compromise on tariffs and subsidies, Lamy asked World Trade Organisation members not to withdraw their offers.

"I would ask you not to take from the table those offers they have made and to cease the vitriolic attacks that render a return to the negotiating table more difficult," Lamy said in an op-ed piece published by the International Herald Tribune.

Lamy's letter was addressed to a generic "trade minister".

Officials from the European Union and the United States blamed each other for the breakdown in talks that were intended to boost trade to the benefit of poorer countries.

Washington argued that the EU had not reduced its import tariffs enough to warrent deeper cuts in US farm subsidies.

In his letter, Lamy said: "Powerful tariff-cutting formulas that were on the verge of agreement would have opened global markets as never before."

'US RACES AGAINST CLOCK AFTER TALKS COLLAPSE'
Another report from Rio De Janeiro adds: US Trade Representative Susan Schwab, in Rio de Janeiro to discuss with Brazil the collapse of World Trade Organization talks, appeared skeptical Friday that international negotiations could resume in the next few months.

The United States is in a "race against the clock" because the White House's congressional mandate to negotiate expires July 1, 2007, Schwab told reporters on the eve of a meeting Saturday with Foreign Minister Celso Amorim.

Any trade agreement must be submitted to the US Congress 90 days before the expiration of the trade promotion authority, she noted.

Once the authority expires, the US Congress will regain the right to amend trade agreements, leaving any Doha agreement hostage to US vested interests.

"If we do not have a Doha agreement in place by the end of 2006 it is virtually impossible for us to use the trade promotion authority," she said, referring to the Doha Round of trade talks that collapsed this week.

"We have already run out of time," Schwab warned.

She said she planned to discuss an extension of the trade promotion authority with US Senator Charles Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

It would take at least "several months" before WTO chief Pascal Lamy could call a new ministerial meeting, she said.

"There is absolutely no reason to bring back the countries together until there is some basis for an agreement," the US trade representative said.

"If we do not get a breakthrough by March (or) April, it is hard to imagine we can get a breakthrough in any less that a year or two," she said.

Schwab said she would discuss with Amorim, whose country is a powerful player among developing countries, "what was the cause of the breakdown" of WTO talks and "how far apart each positions are."

"Neither Mr. Amorim nor I can solve the Doha Round," she said. But "between the two of us we have the capacity to consider the potential points of convergence."

Amorim has joined the European Union, India and others in pinning the most blame on the United States for Monday's collapse of the Doha talks.

Schwab said the US government was "prepared to show flexibility in cuts" in farm subsidies, but "only if we see more market acces on the table."

The US official said she would continue contacting her peers from key countries to try to revive the Doha Round.

"It may be that we won't be able to find convergence but if that is the case it will not be because we didn't try," Schwab said.

The Doha Round is on life support after a meeting of six key players including the United States and the European Union collapsed in acrimony Monday, largely because of disputes over farm payments.

US President George W. Bush said Thursday the United States remained committed to a balanced WTO pact that opens up foreign markets in return for cuts to US farm subsidies.