NEW DELHI, 5 September 2003 — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee took aim at rich nations yesterday ahead of the upcoming WTO summit at Cancun, while calling on ASEAN nations to ensure the issue of farm subsidies does not get sidetracked at the meeting.
Vajpayee told an India-ASEAN trade meeting here that efforts by developing countries to highlight imbalances in multilateral trade get stymied when rich nations link them to “non-trade related issues.”
“All of us are painfully aware that the development dimension of the Doha round is not receiving sufficient attention. We are finding that the Doha agenda negotiations are a two-track process, with our concerns always on the slower track,” Vajpayee said.
In 2001, trade ministers from around the globe agreed in Doha, Qatar, on reductions of, with a view to phasing out, all forms of export subsidies in agriculture but progress on the negotiations has since been slow and problematic. “It is in the hands of ASEAN, India and other developing countries to arrest this trend. We have to insist that the multilateral trading regime takes into account the genuine concerns of the not-so-rich nations for the welfare and livelihood of billions of their citizens,” Vajpayee said.
“Agriculture is one such issue that affects not just the economics but also the society and politics of all our countries,” he said, adding this was an issue in which they all “had a vital stake in achieving outcomes in conformity with the interests of our people.
“India and some ASEAN countries, together with a number of other countries, have taken some important initiatives, which should gather further momentum as we approach Cancun,” he said.
Brazil, China, India and 17 developing or emerging countries, known collectively as the G20, have decided to meet on the eve of the World Trade Organization (WTO) summit in Cancun, Mexico, on Sept. 10 to thrash out their strategy on agricultural negotiations. The Mexico meeting has been called to take stock of the overall round of Doha talks that aim to tear down more barriers to global trade, with an accord scheduled by Jan. 1, 2005.
Vajpayee said that India and ASEAN had common concerns regarding greater market access for various products in developed nations. “We have recently put behind us the contentious issue of TRIPS (trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights) and public health. We hope the same spirit permeates through our negotiations on the Doha agenda,” he said.
Last month, a landmark agreement was announced in Geneva which will allow poor countries without pharmaceutical industries to import cheaper “generic” copies of patented medicines to fight killer diseases.
The prime minister said Indian and ASEAN economic ministers Wednesday finalized the draft of an economic cooperation agreement identifying steps for speedy trade promotion which will be signed at a summit in Bali, Indonesia, next month.
Vajpayee urged ASEAN nations to give a fillip to trade with India from the current annual level of $10 billion to $15 billion in the next two years, and then to $30 billion by 2007.
Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha said India and ASEAN’s countries should expand economic cooperation to even security issues such as joint protection of sea lanes and countering terrorism.
