WTO gets ready to put Doha negotiations back on track

NEW DELHI: The World Trade Organisation (WTO)���the multilateral rule-making body for global trade in good & services���is ready to renew its efforts after a lull of six months to put the ongoing round of trade talks on contentious agriculture issues back on track.

Official-level talks on these issues, which were primarily responsible for the negotiations breaking down last July, will restart at the end of the week in Geneva.

India, together with countries like the US, China, EU and Brazil, will be part of the small group that will meet first to examine ways to find a breakthrough, an official close to the development told ET.

It will be followed by wider consultations including all members.

An official in the commerce ministry, who did not wish to be named, told ET although the discussion would happen between officials and was not as eventful as a ministerial one, such meetings set the tone for the latter and had to be taken seriously.

���India is committed to protect the interest of poor farmers. At the same time, we also want to break the deadlock in talks. The minister has already said the country will engage constructively in all forums of the WTO, so we intend to do our bit in pushing the talks ahead,��� the official said.

���We are hopeful that the official-level talks would lead to some kind of break-through on the issue. However, we are clear we cannot compromise the food and livelihood security of our poor farmers,��� the official said. According to chairman of WTO���s committee on agriculture David Walker, there will be a session with a smaller number of delegations representing all key players and coalitions later in the week or early next week.

Then there would be consultations in various forms in July, ending up with another informal meeting of the full membership just before the summer break, which is in August and early September.

���These meetings will help clarify members��� views on which issues are political (to be decided at a political level, for example, by the ministers), which are technical (to be settled by officials), and which are political but would benefit from some technical work,��� he said.

The Doha round of talks broke down in July last year when India and the US refused to agree on the special treatment to be given to poor farmers to check import surges.