International Trade Daily | November 5, 2001 | By Harbaksh Singh Nanda
NEW DELHI--India has threatened to walk out of the World Trade Organization in protest against the draft ministerial declaration (DMD) for the Nov. 9-13 Doha meeting.
Voicing strong opposition to the attempt of the developed countries to bypass developing countries in outlining issues like investment, competition, government procurement and environment on the WTO's future negotiation agenda, India's Commerce Minister Murasoli Maran said, "If we have no say in setting the agenda, why should we be there?"
Speaking at a function in New Delhi after releasing a book titled Salvaging The WTO's Future: Doha and Beyond, Maran said Oct. 31 he expected some other member countries of the like-minded group to support India's stance at Doha summit.
Maran, who will lead the Indian delegation to the Doha ministerial meeting, said India did not mind being isolated in its opposition to the new WTO agenda.
"We stand firm in opposing negotiations on new issues even if we are isolated," the minister said.
The minister worried about developed countries' arm- twisting the developing nations at Doha, as had happened at Punta del Este and Singapore.
"I do not think one billion people (India) can be isolated," he said.
"We want implementation issues arising out of the inequities of the present WTO agreements to be addressed. We do not want negotiations to start on new issues," the minister said.
Prevent 'Evilness' of WTO
Denying charges that India is not being constructive, Maran said, "We are constructive. But first we should prevent the evilness of WTO."
For the second time in three weeks, the Indian minister called WTO a "necessary evil."
"Necessary because it provides for most-favored nation treatment and rule-based multilateral trade regime. But it is an evil because it wants to curb our sovereignty and cut our jobs."
He said the DMD showed that the WTO is becoming a power-based organization instead of being a rule-based body. Casting aspersions on the neutrality of the WTO secretariat, he said "We do not know who is making these drafts (DMD). How many drafts will come. The developing countries have no role in setting the agenda."
"There is no change in our position. We want the implementation issues of the past Rounds to be addressed first. We don't want negotiations to be taken up on any new issues," Maran reiterated.
On new issues like investment and competition policy, the minister called for WTO study groups to be allowed to continue with their work on the new issues and their reports should be submitted before taking up negotiations on these matters.
He said that TRIPs clauses were coming in between supplying affordable medicines to South African nations that were gripped with HIV epidemic, threatening lives of millions of people.
He said that now even countries such as Canada have asked for an affordable cure for the anthrax menace and India stands justified in opposing the TRIPs' harsh provisions, which prevent ensuring affordable medicine to maintain public health system in the country.
New Round Seen Aggravating Inequities
A new round of multilateral trade talks would aggravate the inequities in the international economic system, he argued.
Maran also recalled that the U. S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick had said immediately after the Seattle Ministerial of WTO in 1999 that the WTO should not become a global government in its zeal to encompass every issue.
"But the same person now sings a different tune calling for the launch of a new Round," the Indian minister said.
He said even during the recently held Singapore meeting of several WTO Trade Ministers, the WTO was usurping the role of every other organization such as patents issue from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), investment from the World Bank's Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), labor from the International Labor Organization and environment from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
Indian Industry Supports Government
Indian industry has stood behind the government like a rock in its opposition to the new round of talks at Doha.
"There should be a draft that would take care of the developing countries concerns. If it is not there, then Doha may fail," said T. K. Bhaumik, senior trade policy advisor at the Confederation of Indian Industry.
"There is no sign of implementation issues being resolved," Bhaumik told BNA in an interview.
Indian industry is concerned that a new round could lead to the linking of trade to issues such as the environment, labor, investment and competition policies, which would be disadvantageous to developing nations.
Other trade chambers like Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry have also opposed the introduction of new round of trade talks before implementation issues are resolved.
Britain Prods India for New Round Support
Meanwhile, British Minister of State for e-Commerce and Competitiveness, Douglas Alexander, urged India to support the new round of talks at Doha.
Speaking at a meeting organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry, Alexander said Oct. 31 that governments around the world, including India and the United Kingdom, must continue to show resolve that the events of Sept. 11 would not undermine the global economy.
It is now more important than ever to resist the slide into protectionism and boost international confidence, the minister said.
He said a new round of WTO was necessary to make the trading system more fair, inclusive and user-friendly for business.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder had also urged India to support the WTO's new round of multilateral trade talks.
Copyright c 2001 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., Washington D.C.International Trade Daily:
