An African group participating at the two-day Delhi informal ministerial meet has stated that the faster conclusion of the Doha trade talks should not come at the cost of developing countries concerns.
“We should not lose sight of the development aspects for the round which ensure the integration of African and developing countries, particularly the least developed countries, in a fair multilateral trading system,” said Rachid Mohamed Rachid, trade and industry minister of Egypt, which is heading the African group at the Delhi meeting of the Doha Round.
He also added that the African body was concerned about the attempts to change or reinterpret the mandates in any negotiating track. The group “strongly believes in the need to preserve and build on progress achieved so far in the negotiations, and to avoid any backtracking. Further, negotiations in agriculture and non-agricultural market access should be based on the draft modalities texts,” he said.
The African body also expressed its concern over those issues of its interest on which no progress has been registered so far in the discussions. “One of the most important issues for Africa — cotton — was not even discussed during the July 2008 mini-ministerial,” the Egyptian minister said.
