Doha Round: Key WTO members may meet before Bali conference

NEW DELHI: Key members of WTO including India, US and China may take stock of the Doha Round, which aims at further opening up the global trade, ahead of the Ministerial Meeting in Bali in December.

In a meeting here today, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma suggested to the WTO Director General Pascal Lamy that "as the US and China will now have new trade ministers, key members should discuss the progress of the Doha Round before the Bali meeting", an official said.

The 9th WTO Ministerial Conference will take place from December 3-6 in Bali, Indonesia. The Ministerial Conference is the highest decision-making body of the 158-member multi- lateral Organisation which meets at least every two years.

"In the meeting, Sharma and Lamy discussed about ways to bridge differences for early conclusion of long stalled Doha Round. They also deliberated on things on be raised in the Bali meeting," the official said.

The Doha talks, launched in 2001, have missed several deadlines for its conclusion due to divergent views on some of the issues between the developed countries like the US and the developing nations such as India.

The vexed issues include high levels of farm subsidy in the developed countries, demand for better market access for industrial products in the developing countries, level of farmers' protection in the poor and developing countries.

The official said that Lamy raised the issue related to trade facilitation (TF) agreement and other pacts.

Rich nations, including the US, want India and other emerging economies to be part of the four major sectoral pacts - TF, information technology (IT), environmental goods and international services agreement.

However, India has opined that it would not accept any agreement on IT and environmental goods.

In Agra this week, Lamy said that given the difficulty in concluding the Doha round in short term, the members should agree on reaping "low-hanging fruits".