World trade talks to resume later today: Kamal Nath

Top negotiators left off from intensive talks aim at hammering out a world trade pact and plan to resume them later.

Top negotiators left off from intensive talks aimed at hammering out a world trade pact and planned to resume them later on Tuesday, ministers told reporters.

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"Ministers of seven key trading nations held "intensive discussions and they will continue tomorrow," Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said after the marathon talks ran into a ninth day amid lingering disagreement on proposed import tariff measures.

"We continued to discuss some of the contentious issues of livelihood security," he added, but did not report any agreement on the special tariff proposals that have split India and the United States at the talks.

Tensions had peaked overnight concerning WTO proposals to allow developing countries to protect poor farmers by imposing a special tariff on certain agricultural goods in the event of an import surge or price fall, via a "special safeguard mechanism" (SSM).

"There have been very intensive discussions this evening amongst ministers," said EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson after the talks involving the United States, Australia, Brazil, China, the European Union, India and Japan.

"We work and will continue on what is a very, very complex and sensitive.