India gears up for WTO conference

India is in the thick of preparing its proposals to be placed at the sixth WTO conference to be held in Hong Kong in December 2005. The exercise is to be completed by February 2005.

The Indian agenda is to push for ensuring the legal sanctity of the proposed modalities agreed by WTO members.

In a session on 'Doha Development Agenda-July 2004 Framework and the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs)' conducted by the CII Southern region, R Gopalan, joint secretary in the union ministry of commerce and industry, said: "We are working on the technical details involved. Of this 70 per cent work is done. The rest will be completed by February 2005."

He said that in the July 2004 framework agreement at Geneva, Doha negotiations were put back on track and this would ensure that the developed countries stick to their commitment of reducing the subsidies being provided to their farmers.

T K Baumik, senior advisor on WTO issues at CII, said that with the tariffs coming down, the non- tariff barrier in agriculture would gain crucial significance.

It is necessary to ensure that the non- tariff barrier is not overlooked as it has not been mentioned in the framework agreement at Geneva.

Baumik said that the Geneva framework had shown India's strength in international negotiations and the increasing importance of the developing countries. India should protect the interests of small and medium enterprises and the unorganised sector.