PROGRESS AT RUBBER PACT TALKS REPORTED SLOW

  Negotiators at a United Nations
  conference on natural rubber are making slow progress towards
  reaching an agreement, delegates said.
      The conference, which began Monday, is widely seen as the
  final effort to adopt a new International Natural Rubber
  Agreement (INRA) before the current one expires in October.
      Some 40 producing and consuming countries are taking part
  in the two-week meeting. This is the fourth such conference in
  nearly two years.
      Delegates said both sides still appeared divided on the key
  issue of the price adjustment mechanism.
      Consumers want frequent price reviews at 12 month intervals
  instead of 18 months as at present, a proposal currently
  rejected by producers.
      And while consumers press for the price adjustment to be
  automatic, producers have resisted reducing the role of the
  International Rubber Organization Council in the price
  adjustment procedure.
      Conference chairman Manaspas Xuto of Thailand has said it
  was "imperative" to settle outstanding issues this week so that
  technical drafting work can be done next week.
  

