WTO director to meet Anand Sharma on Oct 7

Roberto Azevêdo to press for 'support' in Bali ministerial

In an effort to garner support from key member countries for a consensus during the upcoming trade ministers meeting in Bali, Indonesia, director general of World Trade Organization (WTO) Roberto Azevêdo is meeting commerce and industry Anand Sharma here on October 7 even as India has maintained that discussions can only proceed when developed countries agree to a deal on food subsidies.

During his maiden visit to here next week, Azevêdo will be also interacting with business chambers – CII and FICCI – in order to apprise them of the state of play in the ongoing negotiations to clinch a global trade deal that would help poorer countries enhance their exports.

Azevêdo, who took over as WTO DG from Pascal Lamy on September 1 this year, is going to make all efforts to convince the government to change its negotiating stance and come to a consensus on the trade facilitation agreement (TFA) during the ministerial meeting that is scheduled to take place from December 3-6, officials who did not wish to be identified told Business Standard.
 

“He is coming here to seek support,” said a senior official from the ministry of commerce and industry.

Last month, in a letter to the trade ministers of 159-member countries, Azevêdo stated: “Political engagement of capitals is becoming increasingly critical … consider the bigger picture … at stake is the credibility of the multilateral trading system itself.”

During a meeting of the trade negotiating committee at the WTO headquarters in Geneva he said that he intends to see work on the deal speeding up and that the TFA has the potential to provide a $1-trillion boost to global economy.
 
So far under the Doha round of global trade talks, which started in November 2001, TFA has emerged to be the only such area where there is some hope of a consensus.
 
The TFA aims to reduce red tape on international borders and enhancing customs cooperation leading to smoother flow of goods and significant reduction in the transaction cost of exporters.

 
However, India has said that the TFA is only one-sided and will increase the cost burden of developing countries. It has asked WTO to make changes on the proposed deal. But the industry is eager that India signs the deal.
 
Additionally, India along with other developing countries have said that they will not agree on the deal until the developed countries, especially US, agree to negotiate a proposal on food security that was floated by the G33 countries during the Bali meet, which seeks to make those food subsidies legal which are currently prohibited under global trading norms on agriculture.