Agence France Presse | February 17, 2004
India warned Tuesday it will not open its markets further unless developed nations move swiftly to cut subsidies on their agriculture exports.
"If developed nations practise protectionism, their expectations in sensitive areas of developing nations should not be high," Indian Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters on the sidelines of an India-Gulf industrial conference.
Jaitley called for developed nations to announce a programme to cut their agriculture subsidies to facilitate two-way trade in areas such as the farm sector.
"I told this to the US trade represenatative Monday and we had said this at (the WTO talks in) Cancun. Developed countries should announce a programme to cut subsidies in agriculture. As of now they are not doing it," he said.
"The formula which they are giving to the world is not feasible for us as agriculture trade globally will be subverted by their subsidies."
Jaitley, citing US bans on outourcing government projects to India, said the West was promoting protectionism. Before, "business process outsourcing (BPO) had free market access but now they are curbing it," the minister said.
On Monday US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick urged India to open up its markets to help kickstart stalled World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks but New Delhi rejected the call without a quid pro quo on agriculture.
Zoellick, on a whirlwind global tour to restart the WTO talks, said India could ease concerns about job losses in developed nations by opening new business opportunities in return for outsourcing work.
"It (outsourcing) has become an important part of the economy. In order to sustain it, we will need to create jobs on both sides," Zoellick said.
Jaitley rejected the call, saying it was impossible for India to match the extent of farm subsidies given by developed nations. "Our agriculture sector is vulnerable as it is not heavily subsidised like in the US," he said.
The United States has been keen to reopen crucial global trade negotiations since the collapse of the WTO talks in Cancun, Mexico, in September over the elimination of agricultural export subsidies in rich nations and proposals to extend the WTO mandate to cross-border investment.
India, China and Brazil banded together with several other countries to oppose what they considered an accord forced on them by rich nations on such issues as trade, investment, competition and government spending.
A deadline to conclude a new round of global market-opening measures by the end of 2004 has looked elusive since the failure of the Cancun talks.
Developing countries say huge government aid to farmers in the industrialised world has depressed prices and made it impossible for them to compete in global markets.
Indian analysts also say farm-dependent India's reluctance to open up its agricultural markets stems from fears of a rural backlash in coming national elections.
Indian farmers fear liberalising agriculture imports would lead to a flood of subsidised farm goods into the domestic market.Agence France Presse:
