Director General of the World Trade Organisation had stated early this month that the current food crisis can be solved through a successful outcome of the Doha Round of negotiations for a multi-lateral trade deal among 151 countries. Biswajit Dhar, head of the Centre for WTO Studies, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, felt that if an agreement is reached it would provide certainty in terms of policy regime for the farmers in developing countries.
India's trade envoys to the World Trade Organization are comfortable with the proposed norms on concentration of tariff cuts, but are firm that the sectoral proposals at the Doha Round will have an adverse impact on the country's economy.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh believes that most of the major economic indicators are still negative, when one looks at the world economy as a whole.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has arrived in Italy to attend the G-8 summit -- which neither carries high hopes for India, nor for the world.
For developing countries, the key to both food security and livelihood security is the ability to protect small and marginal farmers from unfair competition and the policy space within which they can develop an agricultural policy centered on small-farmers and the maximisation of employment growth.
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma will meet new US Trade Representative Ron Kirk at Bali in Indonesia on June 6-7, on the sidelines of the meeting of the Cairns Group of farm product-exporting countries. The two countries have serious differences on the level of protection that can be given to farmers as and when the global market for farm products is opened up. India has argued all along that it cannot compromise on food security and livelihood concerns.
Reacting to the revised draft modalities put out by the WTO in Geneva on February 8, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said while convergence has been achieved in some areas, brand new text with regard to many unresolved issues has also been brought out.
WTO chief's two-day visit to India beginning Tuesday will also see him holding discussions with Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath, as well as representatives of the industry, sources said. His visit comes days after the WTO mini-ministerial meeting in Geneva collapsed on the issue of safeguard for farmers from the developing countries against import surges.
Developed countries may not get a better deal in the stalled Doha Round of world trade talks in the future as countries like India are likely to harden their stance when talks resume some time next year.
The US on Monday blamed India and China for creating hurdles in the ongoing WTO talks here and said Doha trade talks have been thrown into the "gravest jeopardy" by these two countries which are not willing to open their markets for more imports.
The prospects for ministers pushing through an outline deal in the so-called Doha round of trade talks hang in the balance, with the US struggling with scepticism from Congress and its business and farm lobbies.
The US has asked India and Brazil, the two developing economies, to bring 'more' to the table at Doha by way of 'increased responsibility' and 'positive contribution'. "India has a long and proud and powerful tradition as a leader in the North-South issues, debates. The fundamental difference between the Doha Round and the previous trade Rounds is that this is not a North-South issue.
The chance of ministers meeting next month to push forward the so-called Doha round of trade talks increased yesterday after diplomats said they had made progress on setting goals for the negotiations.
The issue of Doha round of WTO talks dominated the discussions as Prime Minister Manmahon Singh met his British counterpart Gordon Brown here and agreed on the need for pushing the stalled negotiations. Brown, while favouring cut in farm subsidies in the US and the Europe, voiced optimism that an agreement could be reached in the global trade talks that have got stuck due to stiff opposition by India and some other developing countries on agriculture subsidies.
Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath left for Geneva on Wednesday to attend a meeting of the G-20 alliance which will make renewed efforts to work out a global trade deal on the Doha Round of WTO negotiations.
India's agriculture ministry has identified a list of around 80 special products that should get tariff treatment as part of the World Trade Organisation's current Doha Round negotiations.
A top Bush administration official has said that there is "tremendous potential" for the growth of US-India trade and hoped that the two countries would work together for a strong Doha Round Agreement.
The United States on Monday said India 'missed' a major opportunity to get a liberalised regime for the much sought-after H1B visas by not agreeing to Doha deal in Geneva this July.
Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown on Wednesday came down rich countries' subsidy to their agriculture sector.
It is time to lay the Doha Round to rest and think afresh about trade negotiations.
Dealing another blow to WTO's Doha Round, crucial talks between four major players at Potsdam in Germany failed today as India refused to yield any ground on giving market for farm products to rich countries.
"My offer to the US is that they should reduce their subsidy by just one dollar and we have a deal," Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said on Monday at a conference on globalisation, organised by FICCI and University of Oxford.
Trade ministers of four key World Trade Organization members -- India, Brazil, the US and EU -- will make another attempt in Brussels later this week to bridge the gaps on the contentious issues of farm subsidies and market access.
India has said that developed countries were trying to go back on their commitment on the development content of Doha round of WTO talks and are putting new conditions on developing countries leading to a deadlock.
In her remarks at the US-China Relations Conference in Washington on Tuesday, US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said: "I urge China to pull back from the brink and unambiguously commit to the market access and flexibilities put on the table by the chairs -- just as Indian Prime Minister Singh has indicated his country will".
India is giving priority to boost trade with European Union and foresees no difficulty in signing a free trade and investment agreement with EU, notwithstanding wide differences between the two sides in the WTO over the Doha Round of trade talks. India and EU are negotiating a free trade and investment agreement aimed at phasing out and eliminating import duties on a large number of trade items.
WTO chief Pascal Lamy has asked India to give increased market access for agricultural products and contribute toward advancement of the contentious Doha Round of global trade talks.
The government has taken several measures to clear the applications and that includes sanctioning of 373 additional posts in the patent wing.
The Doha Round of talks of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) faces a new challenge and if some statements emanating after the General Council meeting on July 25 at Geneva are to be taken at face value, this could derail the process of trade liberalisation through a multilateral route for some time.
The US on Tuesday said India must play a leadership role for achieving a global trade-liberalising agreement among 150 WTO members under the Doha Round of negotiations.
WTO Director General Pascal Lamy met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday and sought concessions from India to revive the stalled Doha Round of negotiations.
Contending there are 'strategic flaws' in the global trading system, India said on Tuesday these need to be corrected for resumption of the Doha Round of WTO talks which are suspended since July.
The United States on Monday ruled out cutting farm subsidies unilaterally, but said it was open to talks on the subject with a view to restarting the Doha Round of negotiations at the World Trade Organisation.
The G-20 alliance of developing countries led by India and Brazil is likely to come up with "better" proposals at its meeting in Geneva this week as chances of a global trade deal on WTO's Doha Round brighten. Nath said members of the G-20 wanted to recognise some of the sensitivities of developed countries as long as their own concerns of livelihood and food security are taken on board.
India is an important partner of the United States and the export of mangoes to the US reflects the 'closeness' and increasing 'interdependency' between the two governments, the White House has said.
The world's top eight industrial nations on Monday ppeared to have climbed down from a tough position on farm subsidies, reviving hopes of resumption of the collasped WTO talks.
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