Summit Agrees on Debt Relief for Poor Nations

Leaders of the seven richest nations concluded their annual summit today with a debt-relief plan for the world’s most desperately poor countries, proclaiming optimism about the global economy but spurning President Reagan’s plea to end farm subsidies.

Reagan acknowledged that “there are some differences of opinion” on agricultural subsidies but said, “I am not going to give up on that.” Showing no regrets over the final communique, he said, “I’m just surprised we got it done.”

The three-day meeting marked Reagan’s final summit with the leaders of Japan, Britain, France, West Germany, Italy and Canada.

Proclaiming their talks a benefit for the entire world, they agreed to launch a new, seven-year cycle of summits in France next year, beginning July 14, the bicentennial of the start of the French Revolution, and running three days.

‘Vigorous Exchange’

Conferring around an octagonal table in a windowless, basement room of Toronto’s convention center, the leaders met for nearly three hours--an hour longer than scheduled. “It was a very vigorous exchange of views that produced a very substantial document,” said Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, the host of the summit conference.

Members of their delegations had worked through the night to finish the final communique, completing work on the 34-paragraph document at 5 a.m.

It contained no surprises or breakthroughs.

A draft of the communique, obtained from summit sources, said the leaders approved a plan allowing creditor countries to choose from a menu of options in granting debt relief to 20 to 30 nations of sub-Saharan Africa.

Fuzzy Subsidy Language

On the agricultural subsidies issue, however, the leaders adopted vague language that masked the stiff opposition of European nations and Japan to Reagan’s proposal to eliminate subsidies by the year 2000.

In the absence of any agreement, they simply instructed their trade negotiators to keep working on the problem. The leaders said a December meeting of trade officials in Montreal should give “impetus to the negotiations in this as in other fields.”