The Hindu : Business : India suggests SAARC agenda on WTO issues

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 30, 2005

Business

Business

India suggests SAARC agenda on WTO issues

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MARCH 29. India today suggested a three-point agenda to SAARC member nations for dealing with instruments such as Trade Defence Measures, Implementation issues and Special and Differential Treatment regimes under the WTO framework.

The Commerce Secretary, S. N. Menon, outlined the agenda while addressing members of parliament, lawyers, businessmen and media persons from SAARC countries at the regional workshop on "Understanding WTO instruments — implications for SAARC countries" organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Mr. Menon advised the regional grouping to closely look as Trade Defence Measures like the Agreement on Anti-Dumping and the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures and called for transparent anti-dumping rules. This had become imperative in view of the growing recourse to non tariff barriers as tariff levels worldwide came closer to zero.

Implementation issues

The issues of implementation of existing commitments under the Uruguay Round and operationalisation of provisions of Special and Differential Treatment continued to remain in the grey zone. "The development dimension that is much orchestrated in the context of the multilateral trading system is not found to be very much in evidence or operational".

He thus went on to advise SAARC nations to close ranks on these issues as "considerable amount of thinking and research went into the proposals submitted by less developed countries at the Doha Ministerial Conference," he remarked.

Convergence of views amongst SAARC countries was essential and they should resist attempts at further differentiation of their countries for special treatment, the Commerce Secretary said, and called for greater South-South trade by opening up the markets of the regional grouping. Mr. Menon said SAARC countries would have to start seeing themselves as one market as far as agriculture and textiles and clothing and other non-farm products were concerned. Under SAFTA, Pakistan might need to look at the SAARC market as a whole, taking into account the demand-supply balance in respect of different goods and services, including agricultural products.

In a more integrated SAARC market, as envisaged under the proposed SAFTA by January 2006, the supply-demand scenario and price competitiveness in member countries should be taken into account while taking any position in the multilateral trade negotiations.

Yogendra K. Modi, immediate past president, FICCI, called for a united stance among SAARC countries based on the commitment to regional cooperation.

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