US, EU press for green goods in Nama talks
The US and European Union are stepping up pressure on developing countries to incorporate environmental goods in the ongoing WTO non agricultural market access (Nama) negotiations
By ET Bureau |
NEW DELHI: The US and European Union are stepping up pressure on developing countries to incorporate environmental goods in the ongoing WTO non agricultural market access (Nama) negotiations. Sources said pressure to incorporate the list of environmental goods in the ongoing Nama negotiations is forcefully on, not only during WTO negotiations but also at key environmental meetings.
The latest attempt came at the recently-held UN climate change conference in Germany, where effort was made to put trade liberalisation of environmental goods on the climate change agenda and into multilateral trade negotiations. The effort elicited a modicum of success for those pushing for trade liberalisation as the participating countries agreed to hold discussions on the matter.
However, India and the other developing countries, which are opposed to including a list of around 43 green goods proposed by the US and EU into Nama negotiations, continue to see this as a move to bring in trade liberalisation through the backdoor and under the guise of climate change.
At the Germany meeting, where 172 countries participated, developed countries made the point that all countries should decide on giving trade relief to green goods. It is understood that India and the other countries agreed to hold discussions on a much more watered down version of the initial proposal. They also refused to discuss the matter under conditions imposed by the developed countries.
The initial proposal made jointly by EU and US at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali last year looks at eliminating tariff and non tariff barriers in green goods and services. The two had jointly proposed a list of 43 goods at the Bali summit last year and had argued that liberalising trade in green goods would increase the availability of green technology to tackle global warming.
The proposal was viewed by many countries as an attempt by the wealthier countries, which are strong in green technology, to gain backdoor entry into trade talks. For example the EU accounts for 30% of the market. India, along with others, has also argued that the products on the list have little relevance to climate change and that this was not an effective way to fight climate change.
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As a second step, the EU-US proposal also suggests an Environmental Goods and Services Agreement, which will be negotiated by WTO members and would bind countries to eliminate tariffs and non-tariff barriers in trade in green technology. aDownload
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