States to have more voice in WTO matters.

NEW DELHI: State governments will soon have a greater say in the stand the central government takes on key issues in the ongoing talks for opening up goods and services market in global trade at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The commerce department will hold regular consultations with state government officials on delicate issues such as safeguards to protect agriculture against indiscriminate imports and shielding sensitive industrial-goods sectors from competition, a commerce department official said. “It has been decided to hold regular meetings with state secretaries to update them on the WTO negotiations,” he added.

The plan is to meet four-five state representatives in every meeting so that it is possible to give attention to individual concerns, he added. There are issues that would be of great importance to states and where it is necessary for them to participate. For instance, the mechanism that should be pressed for at the WTO to protect farmers in case import surges if trade were opened.

“We want state governments to have a clearer understanding about what is at stake so that they know what is on the table and we can firm up our negotiating strategy,” the official said.

There has not been much progress in the on-going Doha round of negotiations, but with the Barak Obama administration finally appointing its ambassador to the WTO, talks could move ahead.

The Doha round seeks to open up global market in goods and services. Launched in November 2001, discussions hit a road-block in July 2008 when a meeting of trade ministers from key WTO countries failed to reach an agreement on important issues.

WTO members have not been able to put the talks back on track since then, mainly because the US, an important country in the talks, got busy in its election process and subsequently the new government took its time in appointing an ambassador at the WTO headquarters in Geneva.

“Now that the new US ambassador has been appointed, talks will pick up pace. We can already see this happening in the regular WTO committee meetings in Geneva,” the official said.

India, therefore, has to be prepared for intense negotiations in areas that led to the collapse of the round. These include the level to which developing countries will be allowed to raise duties on farm products in case of a surge in imports and the nature of participation (voluntary or mandatory) in talks to remove tariffs in few select industrial goods sectors.

“If we know exactly what states have in mind in such areas, we will be better prepared with our negotiating mandate once talks restart,” the official said.

The Doha round is expected to result in gains worth $282 billion (as per WTO estimates) if members agree to bring down tariff and non-tariff barriers in goods and services.

Source : The Economic Times