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ONE SIZE FITS ALL WILL NOT WORK IN TRADE NEGOTIATIONS: KAMAL NATH – INEQUITOUS SYSTEM WILL HIT TRADE FLOWS FROM DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
CONSOLIDATE DEVELOPMENT AGENDA, SAYS PRANAB MUKHERJEE
LAMY UNDERLINES POTENTIAL OF DOHA ROUND TO BRING GAINS TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON ‘SAVING DOHA AND DELIVERING ON DEVELOPMENT’ BEGINS
Date : 12 Mar 2007
Location : New Delhi
The
International Seminar on “Saving Doha and Delivering on Development” began here
today with the Commerce & Industry Minister, Shri Kamal Nath, categorically
stating that there can be no “one size fits all” approach in the WTO Doha Round
of multilateral trade negotiations as different countries are in different
stages of development. “While it is important that the Doha Round negotiations
are brought to a successful conclusion, conclusion of the round cannot be at the
cost of its content, which is to ensure a clear balance between market opening
and the development needs of the majority of the membership of the World Trade
Organisation (WTO)”, he said. He also flagged the important point that the
round was not just about providing market access to all countries, irrespective
of their existing share of global trade. “It is in the interest of developed
countries to ensure healthy economies in countries of Asia and Africa by
ensuring a level playing field.Otherwise, inequities of the existing system will
hit trade flows from developed countries as people in developing countries will
not have the purchasing power to buy goods and services from the developed
world”, he stressed.
Chairing
the inaugural session, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Minister of External Affairs,
called for serious efforts to consolidate the development agenda of the Doha
Round. “The biggest handicap is that we have not been able to develop
benchmarks to facilitate a developmental audit of the progress of
negotiations. We need to ensure that the development dimension stays in clear
focus”, he said. The 2-day International Seminar has been hosted by the Ministry
of Commerce & Industry (Department of Commerce) in association with the United
Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace; Oxfam International; National Council for Applied Economic
Research (NCAER); and CUTS International.
Mr. Pascal
Lamy, Director General of WTO, in his address asserted that the Doha Round was
indeed a development round.“To me, the main question about this Round of trade
negotiations is not a Shakespearean one, a Hamlet dilemma of “to be or not to
be” a development round. The main question is actually whether or not the
results of this round translate into poor countries’ increasing their level of
development”, he said. Underlining opportunities for development in the Doha
Round, he stressed that the objective was to improve multilateral disciplines
and commitments by all member countries of the WTO in such a way as to establish
a more level playing field and provide developing countries with better
conditions to enable them to reap the benefits of open trade. The Round was,
therefore, an opportunity to rebalance the multilateral trading system in favour
of developing countries, especially in agriculture, he added.
Mr. Kenneth
Valley, Minister of Trade and Industry, Trinidad & Tobago, who is currently in
India for signing a Bilateral Investment Promotion & Protection Agreement (BIPPA),
also spoke at the seminar and underlined the importance of special &
differential treatment to developing countries, echoing Shri Kamal Nath’s
remarks that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ could not apply in WTO negotiations in view
of the differing development needs of member countries.
Speaking on
behalf of Canada’s Minister of International Trade, Mr. David Emerson, Mr.
Edward Menzies, Parliamentary Secretary for International Trade of Canada,
focused on the scope of convergence in the negotiations and the opportunities
and threats for development. “We all stand to gain from an improved access to
global markets, whether for manufactured goods, agricultural products, services
or natural resources. For developing countries in particular, the Doha Round
provides an opportunity to integrate more fully into the global trading system,
to share in its benefits, alleviate poverty, and build a brighter future for
their citizens”, the statement said adding that by resuming substantive
negotiations, the members were on the right track. Outlining the major
opportunities for development in the Doha Round, he said the first opportunity
was that of globalization of markets; the second opportunity was to capture the
potential of South-South trade; and the third was to improve upon the results of
Uruguay Round to lock in the reforms to establish the basis for a 21st century
trading platform.
Apart from
the inaugural plenary, today’s deliberations included a session on “Beyond
Polemics to Understanding: What is the Likely Impact of the Doha Round on
Developing Countries”, which was addressed, among others by Ms. Sandra Polaski,
Director, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Dr. Amit Mitra,
Secretary General, FICCI. Sessions on Agriculture; Vital and Vulnerable; on
Strengthening Disciplines in the Blue and Green boxes to prevent circumvention;
and on Expectations from the US Farm Bill and EC CAP Reform saw the
participation of many eminent experts, academicians and officials including Shri
Sharad Joshi, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha (Member of Committee on
Agriculture and of the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Commerce &
Industry); Mr. Tim Groser, Shadow Minister Trade, New Zealand and Former
Chairman of the Special Session, Committee on Agriculture, WTO; Ambasadors to
the WTO of Brazil and Indonesia; and Ms. Radha Singh, former Agriculture
Secretary, India.
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