LONDON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - A breakthrough in parts of the Doha round of world trade talks could come by the end of the year, the European Union's new trade chief said on Thursday.
Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton, appointed last month, said countries may agree on the outline of a deal on cutting trade barriers for industrial and agricultural goods.
"The point about the round is that you have got the modalities as we call it, the technical issues, which we could settle by the end of the year," she told BBC radio. "It would be extremely good to do so because that is a very positive signal."
The Doha talks began seven years ago in the Qatari capital in an attempt to reach a deal to open up trade around the world.
Trade ministers came close to a breakthrough at a meeting in Geneva in July, but that effort collapsed over a farm trade dispute between the United States and India.
Leaders of the G20, which includes leading industrial and developing economies such as France, Britain, Italy, China, Brazil and India, will meet in Washington on Nov. 15 to discuss the global financial crisis.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim told Reuters on Wednesday the meeting needed to send a strong message to negotiators to complete the Doha talks in the coming weeks.
Ashton said it was crucial that the United States supported efforts to reach an outline agreement, although she played down the relevancy to the talks of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama replacing President George W. Bush on Jan. 20.
"There are further issues that have to be resolved. So it is not about one president or the other, it is about the country of America actually engaging and wanting to finish the deal," she said.
On Tuesday, the head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Pascal Lamy renewed his pledge to finish the Doha talks when he confirmed that he would seek a second term in the role.
Lamy argues that reaching a deal would boost confidence in a world economy staggering from the global finance crisis and ward off protectionism. (Reporting by Peter Griffiths; Editing by Janet Lawrence)