ActionAid today said developing countries were right not to give into heavy handed negotiating tactics by the US and the EU as crucial trade talks collapsed.

Arguing that 'no deal is batter than a bad deal' we believe the deal championed by Pascal Lamy, Head of the WTO, would have put millions of poor people at further risk.

Measures proposed by poorer countries, to safeguard the interests of their growing industries and their workers, such as a cut in cotton susbsidies were rejected by the US.

ActionAid Head of Trade Policy, Aftab Alam Khan said: "This is just another example of the intransigence and insensitivity of rich countries, who aren’t interested in the survival of small farmers or the livelihoods of poor workers in developing countries."

He added: "The US and EU have proved that they are only concerned with protecting the interests of big business, which wants to grab more and more market share in poor countries, with little benefit to the people who live there. And they are prepared to use heavy handed negotiating tactics to do so.

"Developing countries should be applauded for not succumbing to huge pressure from rich countries and Pascal Lamy. Lamy has failed to understand the shift in world politics and the fact that developing countries are no longer prepared to suffer closed door agreements or go cap in hand to a club of rich nations."