Director general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Pascal Lamy today said that a strong and modern bilateral trading system is not a substitute to regional trade agreements (RTAs) but only complementary.Addressing a session: "Multilateral or Bilateral Trade Agreements: Which Way To Go?" at the Partnership Summit 2007 organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Lamy said bilateral trade agreements cannot replace multilateral rules."In my view the conclusion of preferential trade agreements can create an incentive for even further discrimination, which will hurt all eventually. Countries outside the agreement will try to conclude agreements with one of those that are inside to avoid being excluded."Stressing the need for a multilateral trading system, he said bilateral agreements cannot solve systemic issues such as rules of origin, anti-dumping, agricultural and fishery subsidies.Turning to India, Lamy said: "India does not have as many FTAs compared to the US or the EU, but it seems to me that it is quickly catching up."Kamal Nath, minister of commerce, said: "Let me reiterate and assure you all that our commitment to the Doha Round and WTO remains unchanged, and we hold that the bilateral route that we have chosen is complementary to the multilateral process."RTAs and bilateral trade agreements would act as a building block for ultimately evolving a fair, free and pro-development multilateral system, he added.
