23/02/2004 (Agence Europe) - The US representative for trade negotiations, Robert B. Zoellick, repeated last Friday in Geneva to the press that he had seen "encouraging signs that 2004 need not be a lost year" for Doha Agenda negotiations. He said that he had "a sense that there is an opening to achieve forward progress in 2004" but that it would not be easy, noting, "Everyone I visited seems to have a genuine interest in moving forward, or at least not holding the process back…Countries are in the process of shifting from wish lists to what they really need, and from restating positions to problem solving". (Over the last two weeks Zoellick has met representatives from more than thirty members of the World Trade Organisation in Asia, Africa and Europe. Zoellick again insisted that, "agriculture is absolutely the key and we will have to commit to eliminate export subsidies to succeed". According to Zoellick, reform needed in farming had to include a substantial reduction of internal support that caused trade distortion, as well as improved market access, including reciprocal access to markets in developing countries. the Chief US trade negotiator said that the WTO round "will not succeed unless Europe eliminates export subsidies". In the context of Singapore questions, Zoellick declared that negotiators had to focus on trade and leave the rest. He warned that if manoeuvring continued over Singapore they would have, "problems with the Africans and developing countries" in general.