Rich nations are ignoring development concerns: Nath

India today warned members of the World Trade Organisation about growing discontent on account of the development dimension of the current Doha round of negotiations being not yet apparent.

"There is a growing disquiet that the contours of the development dimension of this round are not yet apparent. What does development mean? Surely, it cannot mean displacement of subsistence farmers and de-industrialisation of developing economies," Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said in a letter addressed to all trade ministers of World Trade Organisation (WTO) countries.

Trade ministers from over 40 countries are slated to meet in Geneva tomorrow to discuss the draft modalities for agriculture and non-agriculture sectors. Nath said livelihood security and subsistence of the poor were not negotiable issues.

"While the sensitivities of developed countries in matters of trade liberalisation involve commercial issues, for developing countries such sensitivities involve the survival and well-being of their poorest citizens, the bulk of whom depend on agriculture for their livelihood," he said.

Nath added it was for this reason that India was pressing for substantial reduction in trade-distorting subsidies that developed countries had been providing to their agricultural sectors.

This was also responsible for India insisting that overall tariff-reduction commitments by developing countries should at most be two-thirds of those by developed countries.

Of critical importance were an adequate number of special products (SPs) and an effective special safeguard mechanism (SSM) instrument that could provide a modicum of protection to farmers in developing countries, he said.

Regarding industrial tariffs, Nath emphasised that developing countries should not be prevented from developing their infant industrial sectors.

"An over-ambitious programme of tariff liberalisation can permanently foreclose the possibility of industrial development...," he cautioned.