Howrah News Service -  Latest news and headlines on Howrah,West Bengal and World: India, 10 others to begin talks on tariff on industrial goods

India, 10 others to begin talks on tariff on industrial goods
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newsbyte on 08 June, 2008 07:56:10
 
After Chairman of the NAMA negotiating group threw in the towel last week, 11
key nations, including India, are returning to Geneva on Monday at the behest of
the US to narrow gaps on tariff cuts in industrial goods under Doha
negotiations.
As the US and EU have been rebuffed by the developing countries for being asked
to make greater concessions, "American negotiators are making renewed attempts
to bring the level of differences down to a reasonable level," an official
associated with the WTO talks said.
India and several other developing countries had rejected the negotiating draft
released by Chairman of the Group on Non-Agriculture Market Access Don
Stephenson on May 19, 2008. Unable to find convergence between members,
Stephenson suspended the group talks last week asking them to first evolve a
working consensus before he can pick up threads again.
The Indian negotiating team, comprising senior Commerce Ministry officials, had
raised strong objections to the negotiating draft seeking to "divide the
developing countries" by treating them differently. The draft proposals
suggested different tariff cut formulae for India, South Africa and Mexico.
Besides, flexibilities in duty obligations were linked to the level of cuts the
developing countries were ready to take up.
"This violated the July 2004 Framework, which provided the stand-alone
flexibilities to the developing countries," the official said.
While there are serious differences on agriculture as well, the latest
proposals on industrial goods had 97 square brackets denoting lack of
convergence.
The US and Director General of WTO Pascal Lamy is keen on holding a Ministerial
Meeting in July 2008 for achieving blueprint for completing the Doha Round which
has dragged for seven years.
Speaking at the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting in Paris on June 5, 2008 Lamy
had said that intensive engagement by senior officials would begin in Geneva
this week.
"The severe worsening of the economic climate, high commodity prices and
technical maturity of Doha negotiations seem to be moving WTO members to the
moment of truth," he had said.