Crean said the deals on bananas and tropical products would generate much-needed momentum towards concluding the Doha Round in 2010.

“This demonstrates that with goodwill countries both large and small can get together in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to solve their commercial disagreements,” he said.

The dispute on bananas, which was lodged with the WTO in 1993, was resolved last week in Geneva. The agreement to cut EU import tariffs was agreed to between the European Union, the USA, and banana-producing countries in Latin America, Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

“This breakthrough on bananas is good for farmers in small developing countries, good for consumers, good for international trade, and good for the WTO and multilateralism,” Crean said.

The related agreement on tropical product EU import tariff cuts could also prove to be lucrative for Australia, Crean explained.

The complete list of tropical products has yet to be finalised for each market, but it could include important Australian exports such as canola oil, citrus fruits, avocadoes, and nuts such as macadamias and almonds.

Failure to bring its practices into line with international trade law could lead to commercial sanctions against China and Chinese goods.

The USA also has another case against China in relation to alleged price manipulation of key raw materials used in the production of steel and aluminium. The European Union and Mexico have joined the USA in accusing China of unfairly favouring their domestic industry by setting export quotas on materials such as coke, bauxite, magnesium and silicon metal.

China also has a couple of cases against the USA on trade issues involving poultry goods and tyres.

At the Asia-Pacific Community Conference in Sydney last week, Rudd proposed that a new forum should be developed to include Asia-Pacific countries including China, Japan, the US, and Australia.

“The Asia-Pacific region is still without a regional institution with wide membership and a wide mandate to deal with the breadth and depth of political security, economic and environmental challenges that we will face in the 21st century,” he said.

Pointing out the number of regional forums such as ASEAN, APEC, the East Asia Summit and the Asian Regional Forum already in place, Rudd indicated they could form the foundation for a new Asia-Pacific structure, rather than the overarching nature of the EU.

“It is clear to me that unlike the EU, we do not need a supra-national decision-making structure,” he said.

The European Union, Mexico and the USA have requested the WTO investigate incidents where China have allegedly limited materials used to produce steel, aluminium and chemicals. This in turn has driven up world prices for inputs, skewing price competition.

China says restrictions are required to protect the environment and conserve exhaustible natural resources.

Earlier consultations between the parties have failed to resolve the dispute, which led to the calls for a panel investigation. Under WTO rules, China cannot reject a second request for the panel, which is likely to proceed at the WTO’s dispute settlement body next meeting on December 21.

The three parties have accused China of restricting the export of raw materials required to make steel, aluminium and chemical products, which in turn has forced prices up for their manufacturers and has therefore given China a price advantage.

In a statement, EU trade commissioner Catherine Ashton said: “China’s restrictions on raw materials continue to distort competition and increase global prices, making conditions for our companies even more difficult in this economic climate.”

WTO rules allow export taxes, duties and charges but in general, prohibit other restrictions, including those related to supply.

Consultations with China have failed to resolve the issue, prompting the three to call for a WTO dispute settlement panel to preside over it.

The EU as a bloc fared a little better, with a 0.4 percent overall decline and a 2.5 percent comparison with 2008, however, a number of countries showed greater declines: 7.6 percent in Lithuania and 2.4 percent in Estonia.

Eurostat said the figures indicated that consumers were still being cautious, though there were a couple of countries that recorded individual rises: Austria’s retail sector lifted 2.5 percent, and Slovakia recorded a 1.1 percent rise.

This compares well to their earlier forecast of a 0.1 percent fall in gross domestic product in 2010.

However, it warned that unemployment would remain high, lurking at 10.7 percent in 2010 and rising to 10.9 percent in 2011 in the 16 nations using the euro currency.

EU commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Joaquin Almunia confirmed that the EU economy is coming out of recession but “the road ahead is a challenging one,” he admitted.

“To maintain momentum and support the sustainability of the recovery, it is essential that we fully implement all announced measures and complete the repair of the banking sector.”

The quotas allow certain amounts of Australian dairy products to be exported to the US and EU with reduced or no tariffs, as negotiated through the World Trade Organisation and the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement.

“Australian dairy has a strong reputation around the world but our farmers are affected by factors such as the global fall in dairy prices,” said Burke. “By opening up export markets and cutting red tape, we are helping to support local dairy producers.”

The reforms aim to improve the transparency of quota administration and provide support for small dairy exporters looking to grow market share.

Changes include:

• Replacing four sets of quota access rules with a single set of rules
• Introducing an annual application process to give exporters more flexibility
• Opening the quota to new players and setting aside a small proportion of quota for small and new exporters

In 2008/09, Australia exported dairy products worth $122 million to the US at zero tariffs and approximately $52 million in dairy products to the EU.

For more information, see the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry quota site.

Due to begin his post in November, Beazley will leave his current role as chancellor of the Australian National University and fulfil a long-standing interest in the US.

“The US is a country for which I have very great affection, There is always an immense and complex agenda on the table between Australia and the US,” he said.

The post of ambassador to the European Union, NATO, Belgium and Luxembourg and special representative at the World Health Organisation has gone to recently retired politician Dr Brendan Nelson, former leader of the Liberal Party.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the appointment of Beazley and Nelson “will ensure two respected and proud Australians continue to serve their country in the highest capacity”.

German, French and British finance ministers said Europe should increase its overall donation from the promised $US100 billion to $US175 billion.

So far, Germany has pledged $US35.95 billion, France is preparing to give a total of euro 18.45 billion and $US26 billion has been offered by Britain.

Germany’s finance minister, Peer Steinbrueck and his French colleague, Christine Lagarde  have also called on smaller EU nations to join them and lead by example. Steinbrueck and Lagarde said the funding boost would represent around 35 percent of the IMF’s new lending facility.

The talks of increased IMF funding have also been linked to discussions over voting weight in the IMF where European nations are expected to give up some of their say to emerging economies including Brazil, India and China.

The world’s group of 20 leading economies have so far pledged $US411.5 billion to fund the IMF and will meet to discuss global financial reforms in Pennsylvania on September 24-25.