CII, Ficci want WTO to take a pro-development stand

NEW DELHI: Industry chambers CII and Ficci have asked for a pro-development stand at the Doha negotiations, while welcoming the G4 and G6 negotiations in the capital.

CII president R Seshasayee said World Trade Organisation (WTO) members can ensure a development-friendly outcome by insisting that the mandate contained in Doha Declaration, July framework and Hong Kong Declaration, are fully respected. He also urged the trade ministers to build the developmental concerns into every subject under negotiations, be it market access or rules.

CII argued that the right to ‘self-designate’ special products, as agreed at Hong Kong, on the basis of certain criteria, is very important from the point of view of food security and livelihood security for developing countries like India.

On industrial goods, the chamber said the ‘Swiss formula’ for tariff reduction should have a coefficient, which is the average bound tariff of every country to ensure that the mandate for non-agricultural market access (NAMA) negotiations in respect of less than full reciprocity and elimination of tariff peaks and tariff escalation, is fully respected.

The minimum coefficient for developing countries should not go below 30, Mr Seshasayee said, while urging the negotiators not to link the coefficient to paragraph 8 flexibilities, needed to protect extremely vulnerable sectors.

Ficci president Habil Khorakiwala said, “An improved offer by developed member-countries to reduce their trade-distorting farm subsidies and a more accommodating position on their part regarding special products & special safeguard mechanism would be critical to unlock the current impasse.”

In the context of NAMA negotiations, the chamber observed that India should resist the pressure for drastic reduction in tariffs, adding that any unrealistically low coefficient for developing countries would force them to lower their tariffs sharply and too soon.

Ficci further pointed out that in the absence of any concrete progress on negotiations relating to Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) in WTO, greater market access for India’s exports like textiles, leather & leather goods, chemicals, marine products, electrical and electronic goods would remain a pipedream.

In services, so far no significant liberalisation has been offered by developed countries in modes and areas of export interest to India, such as management & consultancy services, business services and engineering & medical services.