NEW DELHI: The success of the delicately poised Doha Round of negotiations will depend on a number of factors, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, said on Friday.

A critical factor would be whether the member countries that have hitherto largely enjoyed the gains of trade liberalization are willing to make their legitimate contributions to fulfill the core objective of the Round, which has been termed a Development Round.

If the Round fails to deliver on its development promise and gets converted into yet another market access Round for the benefit of the wealthier nations, the current efforts being made by India and many other developing countries to conclude it within the next few months, will not have much chance of success.

Focusing on Agriculture, which lies at the core of the Doha Round, Nath stated that it was vital for India to first secure the livelihoods of its poor and vulnerable farmers before it could move on to any other issue.

The minister stated that the current draft text on Rules has been severely criticized by a large number of members for the proposals on Anti-Dumping and Fisheries Subsidies.

The proposals in the Fisheries Subsidies text posed a threat to the livelihoods of millions of India’s small and artisanal fisher folk and needed to be modified immediately.

He called upon major trading nations such as the US and the EC have to display leadership and not lay the onus for the Round’s success only on developing Members.

2008-05-16 16:45:00

Commodity Online

Source: www.commodityonline.com