The fate of the WTO ministerial level talks to forge a global trade deal hangs in balance as the use of a safeguard measure to check imports surges remains the key sticking points between rich and developing nations, who have been engaged in over eight days of negotiations.
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.
Prime Minister Narandra Modi on Saturday said the government "chose" to take a tough stand in the recent WTO talks as it has to protect the interest of the poor people of the country rather than to look for good publicity in the international media.
Ahead of his meeting with WTO Director General Pascal Lamy in Beijing on Tuesday, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said on Monday that India and China were working together to create a new 'architecture and pattern' of multilateral negotiations. The mutual cooperation in WTO was reviewed at a meeting between Nath and his Chinese counterpart Chen Deming.
Critics have even suggested that India is doing this because it is not prepared to take on the requirements of TFA, with a relatively weak trade infrastructure.
Still, the failure of the agreement should signal a move away from monolithic single undertaking agreements that have defined the body for decades.
Emerging economies led by India and Brazil have informed developed member countries of WTO that they would not accept any dilution of issues concerning food and livelihood security.
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Commerce minister makes strong case for food subsidy to poor.
India and the United States settled a dispute on Thursday that had paralysed the World Trade Organization and risked derailing a $1 trillion package of reforms.
India will join a WTO panel as an 'observer' that would give the country an insight into how governments of developed countries place multi-billion procurement orders with the industry.
All companies that have 50% or more employees from outside the US to pay a higher visa fee of $10,000 for each such staffer, against $4,500 at present.
When asked about the possibility of talks getting extended for another day, World Trade Organization spokesperson Keith Rockwell said: "The concept of time is flexible in WTO."
According to the final draft of the negotiating texts, seen by Business Standard, there are a few binding commitments in the chapter on TFA, under Article 13, which talks of Customs cooperation.
Last week, India lodged a complaint against the EU's measures on PET at the WTO, saying Brussels allegedly violated core provisions of the Agreement on anti-dumping as well as subsidies and countervailing measures. Under the WTO's anti-dumping and anti-subsidy rules, the EU is required to terminate its measures after five years. But Brussels continued to impose them on the ground that the Indian exports could harm the European producers.
Farmers protesting to press the Centre for their various demands will stay put at the two protest sites on the Punjab-Haryana border till February 29 when the next course of action will be decided, their leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said on Friday.
A day after the failure of six-nation WTO talks in Geneva, government said on Tuesday the US is unwilling to reduce domestic subsidies on farm products.
India has expressed its disappointment over non-reaffirmation to conclude 14-year-old Doha Round pacts
A day after a breakthrough deal between India and the US on food security related issues, the WTO on Friday said there was a "high probability" of reaching an agreement within two weeks on the stalled Bali package to facilitate easier global trade flows.
Notwithstanding the failure of WTO members to reach a consensus on Trade Facilitation Agreement to simplify global customs rules, India on Friday said it remains committed to the pact and will continue to pursue its proposal to find a permanent solution to its food security issues.
Rapid industrialisation has helped India speed up its economic progress said WTO chief Pascal Lamy.
The Cabinet committee on WTO approved India's revised offer on services, which include raising the limit for foreign direct investment in telecom to 49 per cent from 26 per cent.
The Indian government has demanded that the year be changed to a more recent period, taking into consideration the rise in food prices and rate of inflation.
Off-shoring is not without its risks and costs to financial institutions. . .explosive growth in off-shoring may put pressure on wages and other costs in countries such as India, the recently-released WTO report on trade in a globalised world said. According to the WTO, closely connected to rising labour costs are high turnover rates, which can affect the quality of off-shore operations and these issues can halt the further expansion of off-shoring.
The protesting farmers have been staying put at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana after their "Delhi Chalo" march was stopped by the security forces.
Nepal on Friday became the 147th member of the World Trade Organisation with the protocol of accession coming into force.
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.
As hard bargains continue for the next four days at the picturesque tourist resort of Indonesia, the ministers., including from the influential developed countries will try and reach agreements on providing windows to the developing nations for their food security programmes and a pact to free the global trade from the procedural hassles at the customs.
Under the TFA, a proposal of developed countries, WTO members are negotiating ways to facilitate trade, simplify and harmonise customs rules and reduce transactions cost. Although India is willing to negotiate on TFA, it has raised few concerns over the proposed agreement.
The first global trade reform since the creation of the World Trade Organization is ready for agreement by ministers from the body's 159 member countries later on Friday, sources involved in the talks said.
As per the procedure of World Trade Organisation, consultation is the first stage of a complaint filed with the global trade body.
Lamy said the international trade body will continue to keep a close watch on protectionist measures that impede international free trade.
India on Thursday said it will support a candidate from a developing country for the top post of the the World Trade Organization (WTO) that is to be decided by the end of May.
The WTO mini-ministerial scheduled to be held later this month to break the impasse on crucial farm and industrial tariff negotiations has been called off.
Earlier this year, the US accused India and China of exceeding the WTO limits on farm subsidies, saying these caused trade distortion.
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