Pascal Lamy will not take up his new post as the director-general of the World Trade Organisation for three months yet, but the former European Union trade commissioner has already created a ripple of concern by affirming his support for agricultural subsidies for rich European farmers.

With strong support from France, M Lamy will succeed Supachai Panitchpakdi, of Thailand, who steps down at WTO on August 31.

One of M Lamy's first tasks as WTO chief will be to get an agreement on the latest round of global trade talks at the Hong Kong summit in December, where agricultural subsidies from the EU and United States are likely to be hotly contested by the developing world. It was this issue that led to failure at the Cancun summit in 2003.

The man who once described the WTO as "a medieval organisation" was looking to distance himself from some of his earlier remarks when he landed in Georgetown, Guyana at the weekend, where the Caribbean Community was holding a three-day meeting of trade and agriculture ministers.

"That was in my past. At this time I move to a different position," he said.

"How much of myself I leave in the previous position and how much of myself I take to the new position is a sort of kitchen secret which I am not ready to disclose totally," he said.

"There are many things I have said in the past in a position of EU commissioner for trade with a specific mandate and an accountability to a council of 25 member states with majority rules and a parliament directly elected by EU citizens."

Developing nations have already criticised M Lamy for not making enough trade concessions on Europe’s heavily subsidised farm products, while his home country’s government accused him for giving away too much.

Ministers in Georgetown were discussing last month’s WTO ruling that the European Union’s subsidies to sugar producers are illegal, saying they were bringing down prices on the world market and making it impossible for producers in other countries to compete.

The formal decision of the WTO general council on M Lamy's appointment is expected on May 26, although all other candidates have now withdrawn. M Lamy had been the only candidate from a developed country, and some analysts predicted he would have difficulty gaining support from developing nations who were critical of EU trade policy during his five-year term as EU Trade Commissioner.

"He knows intimately the terrain of the negotiations," said Rob Portman, the newly appointed US trade representative. "I believe he’ll rise to the challenge of serving as the neutral leader and advocate of ambition in the ongoing Doha trade round."

M Lamy appeared ready to seek a consensus. "The question is whether agriculture has to be treated in the same way as shirts, shoes, tyres or coal remains open," M Lamy said.

"If you put to the membership of the WTO this question, you will have different answers. Some will say it has to be run exactly the same way. Others will say agriculture has its specificities and this has to be taken into account in the way you frame the rules of world trade.

"I have my own views, but what I will have to do when confirmed is to respect the diversity of members' views and try to broker this into some kind of consensus. What the US and the EU did last year in accepting zeroing of export support is something they had to do and the rest of the members were asking from them and this I believe is going in the right direction."

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