India is actively
engaged in the ongoing negotiations in the World Trade Organisation
(WTO), Shri Arun Shourie, Minister of Commerce & Industry,
Disinvestment and the North East, said here today, while presiding
over the Meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee of
the Ministry of Commerce & Industry. "Between now and September
next year (i.e., the next Ministerial Conference of the WTO in
Cancun, Mexico), things will move very fast in the WTO. In this
regard, we have to engage with the world. India has been looked
upon as a leader by many countries on many issues. But we also
have to craft alliances with other countries… The issues of concern
for developed countries are progressing fast in WTO negotiations
but not those of the developing countries. We should make alliances
with such countries which can benefit us", the Minister said.
The Minister said
that there was a vast array of issues in the negotiations currently
going on in the WTO and each of these issues had many nuances,
as brought out in the Presentation on WTO made by the Ministry
at the meeting. Similarly, there were the complexities of the
developing world arising out of the fact that different countries
were in different stages of development, adding to the complexity
of country positions – "the complexity that is often lost in rhetoric
in India". Hence, on many of these issues, it would be important
to be proactive by stating what we would like to gain, he said.
Members present were
S/Shri P.C. Thomas, Swadesh Chakraborty, Prakash V Patil, Shamsher
Singh, N. Venkataswamy, George Eden, Kapil Sibal and Ms. Prema
Cariappa. Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State for Commerce
& Industry, Shri Dipak Chatterjee, Commerce Secretary and
Shri S. K. Agnihotri, Chairman, Tariff Commission, were also present.
The agenda for discussion of the meeting was "WTO Developments".
The Minister shared
the members’ concern regarding the interests of farmers and the
domestic industry including small and medium enterprises, and
said that the government was fully alive to such issues. At the
same time, he underlined the need for enhancing competitiveness.
"The answer in the long run is not yes or no to the WTO, but our
own competitiveness", Shri Shourie said. He also pointed out that
besides anti-dumping, there were many other provisions in the
WTO for protecting domestic interests such as provisions for taking
safeguard action and even reintroduction of quantitative restrictions
(QRs) and urged cooperation of the members in expediting the pending
legislation in Parliament in this regard, which would enable the
country to take advantage of such provisions.
On the issue of increasing
the tariff binding for natural rubber (25% at present) raised
by a member, the Minister indicated that this would require to
be negotiated with our trading partners under GATT Article XVIII
– a process which also requires consideration of compensation.
The matter is being examined, he said.
In response to a
specific query on market access gained in the developed countries,
members were informed that the country’s exports had shown continuous
growth with the current year’s export growth estimated at over
13%. The US and the European Union (EU) accounted for nearly 50%
of India’s global exports, while merchandise exports alone to
the US were up by 23% this year despite the slump in USA’s global
imports.
The Presentation
covered the entire range of WTO issues including the post-Doha
developments; special & differential treatment; agriculture;
services; TRIPs & Public Health; Trade & Environment;
Implementation Issues; industrial tariffs; regional trade agreements;
Singapore issues; and WTO rules covering the anti-dumping and
subsidies agreement. It highlighted the current state of play
in the WTO negotiations and the preparations underway in the context
of the next Ministerial. Extensive consultations are being held
with industry associations including CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM, Export
Promotion Councils as well as state governments in formulating
specific proposals as well as those under finalisation for submission
to the WTO. Research studies have been undertaken and expert groups
set up to go into issues of specific concern to India such as
industrial tariffs and investment.
