Monday, February 11, 2008

India Studying Fresh WTO Proposals

India is studying the fine print of the fresh WTO proposals on reduction in farm subsidies and industrial tariffs, the two most controversial issues that have been stalling a consensus in the Doha Round of negotiations. Its trade negotiators are still studying the exhaustive draft and are likely to comment on Monday.

Released in Geneva on Friday, the revised draft on agriculture has proposed that the U.S. cut farm subsidy by $13 billion to $16.4 billion and most of the developing countries are busy scrutinising the details in the document to infer whether the fresh proposals actually boil down to any meaningful reductions by the developed countries such as the U.S. Earlier this week, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath had stated that the Doha talks were at a delicate stage and could move away from convergence in case the concerns of the developing countries on livelihood and marginal farmers were not addressed. On the other hand, U.S. officials have stressed that they would like to see the market access issue equally addressed along with the cut in farm subsidies at the core of any global trade deal.

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