The Hindu Business Line : New Delhi meet to push for talks to free global trade, early launch of Doha Round

New Delhi, Aug. 20 India is hosting a two-day informal ministerial meeting of members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on September 3-4 to give a push to the negotiating processes to free world trade in goods and services and facilitate the early launch of the Doha Development Round.

Official sources told Business Line here that trade representatives at the ministerial level, from the US, the European Union, Japan, Brazil, China, Russia, South Africa, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand, would take part in the meeting. These countries represent 85-90 per cent of the world Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Anand Sharma, who earlier attended the Bali (Indonesia) meeting, said that he would look forward to help the talks move forward. The inputs from the meeting would also be forwarded to the G-20 meeting of global leaders in Pittsburgh on September 24-25.

Most of the other WTO members are part of the association of these trade majors either in G-10, G-20, G-33 or G-77 and to the extent the New Delhi meeting would try to arrive at a consensus on “structural issues” which have bogged down negotiations till date, they said.

The question of bypassing smaller members does not arise now because “the charge of green room decisions being thrust on the rest is more relevant when you finalise the agreement after entering the stage of negotiations. But the New Delhi meeting is only to give a push to identify the stumbling blocs to modalities and remove them by consensus,” the sources clarified.

Provide a forum

Stating that the participants are not going to discuss any texts on agreed modalities or incomplete modalities, the sources said that the New Delhi meeting is trying to provide a forum where member-countries sit together. The Ministers will have some large issues such as the impact of bilateral (agreements within a small group of countries) on the speed and transparency of multilateral decision-making and the issue of “no surprises” (many a member not privy to such bilateral later complains of ‘surprising’ decisions hammered out by a small group of countries that is thrust on them).

It is in the spirit of continuing negotiations that the UPA Government has taken the initiative on the stalled Doha trade talks to invite key WTO members to find a way out of the impasse by zeroing in on “macro issues” and getting them out of the way by “giving the political weight of the Ministers”. The sources said that “it is the penultimate stage” of how do you go to wrap up modalities before getting into the nitty-gritty of negotiating details, which would be the second stage of discussion under the WTO umbrella.

To a question on the US and the European Union remaining stuck in their stated positions on the parleys held so far, the sources said may countries have raised the issue whether the US is fully prepared. This is presumably raised because “Deputy US Trade Representative for WTO is not there or US Fast Track Trade Promotion Authority is not there”.

On the contrary, the US has been maintaining that it is determined to restart the negotiation as its priority, the sources said adding that “these are perceptions about the trade major and the US will give its version” at the next month meeting here. After one has discussion in a forum like this with US representatives and “the attitude they show would determine how soon and how fast they want to complete the round,” the sources added.

After two days of deliberations here, the Chairman of the meet in his capacity would issue a Chair’s text, setting out the issues discussed and the consensus conclusions arrived at by the participants, the sources noted.