Trading powers are putting forward news ideas on breaking down barriers to global commerce, indicating progress is possible in a key area of world trade negotiations, the diplomat chairing the talks said.

Both developed and developing countries took part in a week of meetings on non-tariff barriers -- obstacles to exports and imports besides import duties, said Luzius Wasescha, Switzerland's ambassador to the World Trade Organisation.

In contrast to other areas of the WTO's long-running Doha round, WTO members were not simply reiterating long-standing positions, he told a news briefing.

"We start to see the emergence of some tracks, which might lead us further," said Wasescha, who chairs negotiations at the WTO on industrial goods in the Doha round.

His comments mark a rare bright spot in the Doha talks, launched in late 2001, but currently deadlocked, largely over differences between the United States and the big emerging economies of China, Brazil and India.

Non-tariff barriers are highly technical but many economists believe they hold the key to future trade opening and economic growth, as tariffs themselves, the focus of previous trade rounds, are cut closer and closer to zero and become irrelevant.

In practice, the negotiations come down to agreeing on standards for different industries, and whether to settle on standards set by a single international body, or mutually recognise each other's norms.

The current negotiations are focusing on proposals to remove non-tariff barriers in the automobile, chemicals and electronics sectors. The European Union has made proposals on all three, the United States on automobiles and electronics, and Brazil and Argentina on chemicals.

During the week negotiators examined the globally harmonised system (GHS) for classifying and labelling chemicals managed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, and the European Union's REACH regulations on the safe use of chemicals.

Another question under discussion is how to resolve differences arising from agreements on non-tariff barriers without resorting to full legal disputes at the WTO.

WTO members also examined a proposal by the United States, Japan and Switzerland on remanufactured goods -- used products stripped down and rebuilt in a way to make them as good as new while saving energy and raw materials.

Remanufactured goods are already widely used, for instance in auto parts in the United States. But they can fall foul of import rules that differentiate between new and used products. (Reuters)