Page 284 - DMGT401Business Environment

Unit 13: World Trade Organization

Notes

Caselet India and WTO Deal: India for all Round Talks

–by Prabhankar Sinha
n order to expedite progress on the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) under WTO
(World Trade Organisation), India proposed simultaneous negotiations in services
Ialong with issues on agriculture and non-agriculture market access (NAMA).
Addressing a two-day mini-ministerial meeting on Re-Energising Doha A commitment
to Development, commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma said, ''Since time is of
the essence and in order to maintain a balance within the single undertaking, we can
consider moving the other issues on the agenda forward." He asked the member delegates
whether parallel negotiations in services and other areas can be taken on board in a more
proactive member.
The inclusion of negotiation on services along with the other contentious topics like
agriculture and NAMA will help countries like India in the bargain, giving them greater
maneuverability in trading off gains in one area against concessions they may have to
yield in other areas.

Under the Hong Kong ministerial meeting in 2005, an understanding was reached between
member countries that a sequential approach would be adopted with negotiations on
agriculture and NAMA being prioritized. But to complete the Doha Round of negotiation
by 2010, Sharma asked ministers from 35 countries who have come to Delhi whether they
would be willing to deviate from the "tried and tested process."
''While we follow the established process of multilateral negotiations, we also need to
look at various approaches to feed the multilateral process to reach a satisfactory
conclusion," Sharma said, adding that concluding the Doha round of negotiations is vital
for strengthening world trade.
The two-day informal meeting of trade ministers of 35 WTO-member countries is
deliberating on the timeline to conclude negotiations on the Doha development agenda
by 2010 and not trying to resolve the contentious issues. Various issues in agriculture and
NAMA are yet to be sorted out. ''This will take time and needs to be factored in when we
decide on a schedule for the ensuing months to determine when agriculture/NAMA
modalities can meaningfully concluded," Sharma said.
In the meeting, according to a statement by Indian government, there was a unanimous
affirmation of the need to expeditiously conclude the Doha round, particularly in the
present critical global economic situation. All agreed that there was a need to resume talks
in Geneva to conclude the round.
Initiating the discussions in the meeting, WTO DG Pascal Lamy said the conclusion of the
Doha Round was an urgent requirement as per the signals emanating from world leaders.
However, he acknowledged that these signals had not created negotiating dynamics at the
ground level, which is essential for the conclusion of the Round.

The Chairs of the WTO negotiating groups on Agriculture, NAMA (industrial goods) and
Services provided an overview of the status of negotiations in their respective areas and
outlined their work plans in the ensuing months.
Contd...

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