Govt constitutes 5-member GoM on WTO

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the crucial WTO ministerial meeting in Mexico next year, the government on Monday set up a Group of Ministers to expedite the country''s decision making process on WTO issues.
This was stated by Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie, who has been given additional charge of the Commerce and Industry Ministry, after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on WTO, headed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Shourie said the GoM will comprise besides himself, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha, Law Minister K Jana Krishnamurthy and Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh.
The GoM, he said "would take decisions on the negotiating position of India on agriculture and other items which would keep coming on between now and next September when the Cancun (Mexico) round will take place".
The GoM has been set up to take decisions rapidly on WTO matters and to bring to the notice of the Prime Minister any issues which warranted his urgent attention.
As far as the WTO negotiations on agriculture are concerned, the Committee on Monday discussed the principal guidelines which the negotiators must follow during the discussions to be taken up in Geneva later this month.
Shourie said the Commerce Ministry, during the meeting, made a detailed presentation jointly with the Agriculture Ministry on the approach to be taken at WTO.
Referring to the informal WTO conference at Sydney later this week, Shourie said it was not a matter of going into the specific details but a general discussion.
He said the Sydney meeting would discuss four items on the rate of progress on implementation issues of interest to developed countries and the developing countries like India, and that there would be an exchange of views on these among the participating countries.
Stating that India had made rapid progress in certain areas of the WTO, the minister said India''s efforts in anti-dumping had been internationally acknowledged.
"We need to strengthen our negotiating process while ensuring that our exports and industry become competitive," he said.
On the need for the GoM, Shourie said, "Suppose they want the government''s view on a particular phraseology, to convene the entire the Cabinet Committee on WTO affairs would be a problem and the GoM could discuss such issues and get back to them".
Earlier briefing reporters, an official spokesperson said that the committee discussed the current state of play in the WTO negotiations particularly in the context of protecting Indian agriculture and the interest of the farmers.
Negotiations in agriculture at the WTO have been going on since January 2000 and the Doha Ministerial of the WTO held in November last year had set up a framework for negotiations and the modalities of the negotiations have to be agreed upon by the WTO member countries by March 31, 2003.
The target date for the completion of all negotiations including agriculture is January 1, 2005, he said.
The meeting was also attended by Finance Minister Jaswant Singh, Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh, Consumer Affairs Minister Sharad Yadav, deputy chairman of Planning Commission KC Pant and Textiles Minister Kashiram Rana.