Brussels, 08/05/2008 (Agence Europe) - A World Trade Organisation spokesman, Keith Rockwell, admitted on Wednesday 7 May 2008 that extended negotiations at the WTO on farming issues in particular are making it highly unlikely that a ministerial conference can be held in Geneva in May this year. “It would be extremely difficult under this time constraint and given the importance of substance to this process to have such a meeting in May,” he told reporters after a meeting of the WTO's General Council. Sensitive products and tropical products are still the subject of intense debate at the farm negotiating committee chaired by Crawford Falconer, which is expected to meet again on 8 and 9 May. New draft compromise details on agriculture and industrial products (NAMAs in WTO terminology) will be published in the week of 12 May at the earliest. Rockwell said that once the draft deals had been published, several weeks would be required for member countries to study them, meet at technical representative level and then ambassador level, before any trade offs could be arranged between farming and NAMAs and the broad outlines of a full draft deal on modalities can be set out. The holding of the Euro 2008 football championships in Switzerland in June makes it highly unlikely that any ministerial summit would be held at the same time. (E.H.)