India rejects move to include non-trade issues in WTO

BUENOS AIRES: India has opposed efforts by developed countries to include issues like human rights, labour standards, gender and environment in global trade negotiations.

Calling these subjects non-trade issues, India opposed any rule making on them in the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The issues came up at a meeting organised by the Inter Parliamentary union and European Parliament at the ongoing eleventh ministerial conference of WTO here.


"These are pressure groups which try to influence negotiations through advocacy," said an Indian trade official.

"However, this can't be used for trade rules and stop movement of goods," the official added.

Three members of Indian parliament- Kirit Somaiya, Anurag Thakur and Swapan Dasgupta are here for the parliamentary meetings while 200 members of the European Parliament have come.

"Developed countries keep coming up with such issues to keep developing countries on tenterhooks, divert their time and resources and slyly try to creep in these issues in main negotiations sometime later," said an expert on trade matters.

Developing countries also feel the duplicity on part of the proponents of environment standards in WTO as they are are not part of Convention of Biodiversity, Paris Agreement or Kyoto protocol.

Another expert said that it is a lever and ploy by developed countries because no nation will ever say that it is against gender equality or environment and labour standards.

"We didn't agree to introduce these in the Parliamentary conference. We are against rule making on these though we are not against these issues per se," the official added.