Trade Minister Mark Vaile has welcomed signs from some of Australia's major trading partners that they are serious about including agriculture in a new World Trade Organisation (WTO) round of negotiations.

Mr Vaile attended a mini-ministerial meeting in Mexico City on 1 September with representatives of key WTO members.

"All participants at the meeting, including the EU and Japan, acknowledged that agriculture will have to be one of the centrepieces of any new round in the WTO," Mr Vaile said.

"The issues canvassed included agriculture, the environment, developing country implementation concerns, proposals for negotiations on investment and competition, and trade rules such as subsidies and anti-dumping duties.

"While some differences still remain between key players, I was encouraged by the positive tone of discussions at this meeting", Mr Vaile said.  "Ministers agreed on the need to stay in close contact in the coming weeks to maintain the momentum for a successful Doha meeting.

"A number of useful suggestions were made that may provide the basis for bridging the gaps.  I will discuss the suggestions on agriculture with my Cairns Group colleagues in Uruguay on Monday."

United States Trade Representative, Bob Zoellick, and Secretary of Agriculture, Anne Veneman, are also planning to visit Uruguay for the Cairns Group talks.

Mexico hosted the meeting that was attended by representatives from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, the EU, Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Jamaica and Singapore.