WTO meet: Industry oppose to zero duty regime

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the informal WTO ministerial meeting, Indian industry strongly opposed a proposal of the developed countries that duty on specific sectors be eliminated under the sectoral initiative of the Doha Round of trade talks.

"...at any stage 'development dimension' of the Doha talks cannot be overlooked...sectoral tariff negotiations should remain non-mandatory," Ficci President Harsh Pati Singhania said in a statement.

Under the proposal being pushed by the industrialised nations, duty on a particular sector of interest to them should be completely eliminated and the provision be made mandatory.

However, developing countries like India are opposing the mandatory provision in the proposal stating that their industries are at nascent stages of development and need certain protection till they reach the stage at developed nations.

It added that the ministers participating in the WTO meet here should prepare a doable action plan with clear targets towards concluding the Doha negotiations by 2010.

"We urge the participating ministers to use this opportunity for readying a blueprint with timelines. This would be critical for completing the Doha talks within the present deadline of next year," Singhania said.