'WTO deal secures our concerns'

Agreement protects our farm and industry, says Nath; chambers welcome.

Bullish over the outcome of the Hong Kong WTO Ministerial, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath today said the agreement addressed the concerns of both agriculture and industrial sectors and it would be instrumental in driving India's farm and manufacturing exports in the global markets.

"The agreement fully secures the concerns of our farmers. It ensures that no subsidy-ridden farm products are exported to India. The phase-out of export subsidies by the developed countries will also give our farmers a chance to compete in the world market," he said on his arrival here from Hong Kong.

He said the success was the result of the strategy of India forming a grand coalition of developing countries (G-110).

The agreement protected domestic farmers against a surge in imports through the provisions of special products and special safeguard mechanism that had been included in the ministerial declaration, he said.

Saying that the agreement also takes care of the concerns of the industry, Nath added that the developed countries would have to reduce tariff peaks and tariff escalations on products which go from developing nations like India.

The agreement also takes a step forward on removal of non-tariff barriers and anti-dumping, a key concern of the Indian industry. Industry chambers, CII, Ficci and Assocham, have already welcomed the agreement, expressing satisfaction over the end-date being specified for the elimination of all forms of export subsidies by the rich countries.

Terming it a "significantly positive step towards successfully completing the Doha negotiations by 2006", Ficci Secretary General Amit Mitra welcomed India's initiative to build the unprecedented alliance of a large number of developing and least developed countries.

The flexibility to self-designate an appropriate number of products as special products and a special safeguard mechanism would enable India to protect its large population of small and marginal farmers from the unfair competition of subsidised imports from developed countries while the mandate for the review of "Green Box" criteria will help towards keeping out most of the trade-distorting support measures, the chamber said.

CII Vice-President R Seshayee welcomed the inclusion of paragraph 8 flexibilities in non-agricultural market access (Nama), which is expected to help the developing countries have some less-than-formula cuts for a few sensitive products as well as keep some tariff lines unbound. Assocham has also welcomed the draft.

However, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has expressed dissatisfaction over the proposal to remove agricultural subsidies by 2013. Calling it "double standards of the rich countries", FIEO Chairman R K Dhawan said these countries continued to extend subsidies to their own farmers.