The group made clear that they expect to see early progress in the talks, if the White House wants "fast-track" authority from Congress to complete the overall WTO negotiations, which will embrace other sectors, including trade in services. "We're going to put agriculture at the front of the train (in the upcoming talks). We're going to be the engine," said Sen Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican. In the past, other sectors have reached agreements first and agriculture has been "the caboose. That's not going to happen" this time, he said.

The lawmakers took particular aimat the European Union, which they accused of distorting international trade with its generous domestic farm programmes and export subsidies. They also called for reform of state trading enterprises like the Canadian Wheat Board, which they said uses its monopoly power to undercut world prices.

"Our farmers aren't competing with other farmers around the world. They're competing with other governments. The results have been disastrous," said Representative Earl Pomeroy, a North Dakota Democrat. On another sensitive issue, the lawmakers are pushing for the creation of an international regulatory structure to ensure that rules for genetically modified crops are based on "sound science." The US corn farmers have lost hundreds of millions of dollars in sales to the EU over the past two years because some genetically modified varieties grown here have not been approved by EU authorities.

Genetically modified foods have aroused consumer fears in Europe because they contain a gene taken from another organism toincrease the plant's resistance to certain herbicides and pests. The lawmakers also called for reductions in farm import tariffs, which average about 50 per cent in the rest of the world, compared to less than 10 percent in US. Several members of the House-Senate farm trade caucus said they would be in Seattle for the launch of WTO talks, which negotiators hope to conclude in three years.