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India warns WTO panel over US influence
India warns WTO panel over US influence
15 May 2008, 0034 hrs IST,PTI
NEW DELHI: Ahead of the release of fresh WTO proposals, India has conveyed to the agricultural negotiating group in Geneva that chances of a Doha deal will become bleak if the US has its way on scaling down protection to farmers in developing countries.
"It will become clear in the next few days whether the US and other developed countries are serious to conclude the Doha negotiations, which have dragged for seven long years," a senior commerce ministry official said.
Chairman of the Negotiating Group on Agriculture Crawford Falconer has concluded three-month old official-level discussions with a large number of WTO member countries and is expected to release the fresh draft in the next few days. India along with other members of the G-33 (a group of countries with protective interest) is apprehensive of the US exerting pressure on the negotiating group to cut the number of Special Products (SPs), on which the developing countries are allowed to remain non-committal in duty reduction. While the last negotiating text released in February this year had proposed that between 12-20% of the total agriculture items can be designated as SPs, the US along with eight other exporting countries have suddenly brought in a proposal of restricting the protection level to 8%.
"This is a bogus proposal and is totally unacceptable. They (the US) themselves come out with hot balloons and then have the audacity to point fingers at India, Brazil and China," the official said. He said India's "loud and clear" message was also conveyed to US Trade Representative Susan Schwab by commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath at their last meetings in New York.
15 May 2008, 0034 hrs IST,PTI
NEW DELHI: Ahead of the release of fresh WTO proposals, India has conveyed to the agricultural negotiating group in Geneva that chances of a Doha deal will become bleak if the US has its way on scaling down protection to farmers in developing countries.
"It will become clear in the next few days whether the US and other developed countries are serious to conclude the Doha negotiations, which have dragged for seven long years," a senior commerce ministry official said.
Chairman of the Negotiating Group on Agriculture Crawford Falconer has concluded three-month old official-level discussions with a large number of WTO member countries and is expected to release the fresh draft in the next few days. India along with other members of the G-33 (a group of countries with protective interest) is apprehensive of the US exerting pressure on the negotiating group to cut the number of Special Products (SPs), on which the developing countries are allowed to remain non-committal in duty reduction. While the last negotiating text released in February this year had proposed that between 12-20% of the total agriculture items can be designated as SPs, the US along with eight other exporting countries have suddenly brought in a proposal of restricting the protection level to 8%.
"This is a bogus proposal and is totally unacceptable. They (the US) themselves come out with hot balloons and then have the audacity to point fingers at India, Brazil and China," the official said. He said India's "loud and clear" message was also conveyed to US Trade Representative Susan Schwab by commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath at their last meetings in New York.
