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Developing countries stand united in
Geneva
- WTO talks end in deadlock
Raising the pitch for
Indian farmers, Shri Kamal Nath, Commerce & Industry
Minister, has said that there is no negotiating
space in the present discussions as far as
developing countries are concerned and that the onus
of ensuring success of Doha Round rests squarely on
the developed countries, as global trade talks at
the mini Ministerial meeting of the World Trade
Organisation (WTO) ended in a deadlock in Geneva
today. "I can negotiate commerce, but not
subsistence", he said repeatedly in green room
discussions at WTO last night as well as this
morning, while rejecting outright attempts by
developed countries to rewrite or reopen the Hong
Kong Declaration and the Doha Mandate on issues
relating to food security, rural development and
livelihood concerns of developing countries. Our
farmers should not be hostage to commercial market
access considerations, he stressed.
"The next
few weeks are a period of reflection as well as of
intense consultations", he said, in a statement on
behalf of India at the Trade Negotiations Committee
meeting later today while reiterating India's
commitment to maintaining and strengthening the
structure of the multilateral trading system.
India played
a proactive role in the three-day mini Ministerial
in building on and further strengthening the
solidarity of developing countries across various
groupings in WTO negotiations that was witnessed at
the Hong Kong Ministerial. Trade ministers of G-20,
the G-33, the ACP, the LDCs, the African Group, the
Small and Vulnerable Economies, the NAMA-11, the
Cotton-4 and Caricom said in a joint statement
issued at a press conference in Geneva which was
attended by Mr. Kamal Nath that the negotiations for
modalities in agriculture and non-agriculture access
(NAMA) must address on a priority basis the
development needs and concerns of developing
countries. "The most substantial results must be
achieved in the areas where the greatest distortions
lie, in particular on trade-distorting subsidies,
that displace developing country products, threaten
the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of poor
farmers and which have been prohibited for
industrial goods for several decades. Market access
will be an important component of a successful
Round, but market opening in the developing
countries must take into account their social and
economic realities", the statement said.
Shri Kamal
Nath also outlined a six-point minimum agenda for
future programme in Doha Round, suggesting: a)
Substantial progress in effective reduction of
trade-distorting subsidies in agriculture along with
clear disciplines; b) Meaningful reduction in
agricultural tariffs in developed countries, in particular in products of
export interest to developing countries; c)
Substantial reduction in industrial tariffs based on
the principle of less than full reciprocity in
reduction commitments; d) Meaningful Special and
Differential (S&D) Treatment provisions for
developing countries, in particular overall
proportionality in commitments, Special Products,
Special Safeguard Mechanism,
in agriculture and para 8
flexibilities in NAMA; e) Finalization of modalities
for duty-free, quota free access for least developed
countries and f) Accommodation of specific concerns
of small and vulnerable economies, cotton producers
of Africa etc.
The Minister left
Geneva for New Delhi later this evening.
New Delhi,
Jul 1, 2006 |
