A broad convergence of views on all new issues related to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) emerged yesterday after three days of deliberations by the commerce secretaries of Saarc countries here.
However, concrete decisions in this respect would only be taken at the meeting of Saarc commerce ministers scheduled in August in Male, prior to the Seattle round of the WTO inter-ministerial meet in November.
The meeting covered the issues of industrial tariffs, investment and competition, government procurement, environment in trade and the social clause.
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The secretaries stressed that more must be done to access the markets in developed countries. "Markets in developed countries are still characterized by non-tariff barriers and other obstacles," India's commerce secretary P P Prabhu.
"The textiles sector should also be included to a greater degree within the WTO framework," he added.
The secretaries pointed out that it may not be fruitful to embark on the new issues without having completed unfinished business and undertaking assessments of implementation of existing WTO agreements, especially with respect to developing countries.
As far as the social clause was concerned, the secretaries