Brussels, 05/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - The G4+ ministerial meeting (the EU, United States, Brazil and India plus Australia and Japan) in Geneva on Friday and Saturday (see EUROPE 9081) produced very little in the way of tangible results despite the attempted impulse in London at the same time from the G7 finance ministers meeting. Invited alongside China and South Africa by Gordon Brown (see below), the emerging G20 economies with a big farm industry, along with Brazil and India, pledged to make offers guaranteeing the opening of more of their markets to manufactured goods and services (but without giving any details of what these concessions might amount to), while repeating their call for compensation from rich countries of at least the same amount. At the final press conference, the Geneva meeting was described by Brazilian foreign minister Celso Amorim as productive but differences remain. He added that he didn't think there had been anything new in terms of new offers. The six trading powers' negotiators did, however, manage to draw close to a compromise for the Hong Kong Summit on a series of ambitious development measures to aid the world's poorest countries (LDCs in the jargon) to access world trade. Noting that limited progress had been made in the Geneva talks, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson welcomed the fact that the G4+ members had managed to draw up the beginnings of a common project. US Trade Secretary Bob Portman said that for the first time, the United States had discussed the option of providing customs tariffs-free access for LDCs' exports (a measure already granted by the EU under the All But Arms initiative - the EU wants this to be adopted by all developed countries and emerging economies). The G4+ negotiators also pledged to find a solution for Hong Kong on the crucial issue of the erosion of trade preferences for African, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACPs) which have traditionally enjoyed privileged access to the EU market and whose preferences now risk being hit by an overall fall in customs tariffs. The G4+ gave itself until 1 March to agree on a deadline for scrapping export subsidies and other forms of export aid. In Geneva on Friday evening, the WTO General Council endorsed a draft ministerial declaration to be submitted to the world's trade ministers for approval at the Hong Kong Summit.