The Hindu Business Line : Broad front needed for WTO talks, says Shourie

THE Minister for Disinvestment, Commerce and Industry, Mr Arun Shourie, has underscored the need to ensure that the process of the ongoing multilateral negotiations is carried forward on a broad front.

This, he said, is to ensure that the interests of developing countries such as India are fully taken on board and the credibility of the multilateral trading system is re-established after the Seattle disaster.

Participating in informal interactions with Trade Ministers and other bilaterals as the leader of the Indian delegation to the Mini-Ministerial on

WTO negotiations under way here on Thursday, Mr Shourie said: "We must not move away from the core of the Doha Declaration which is essentially trade and development" and not dwell on issues which may be extraneous to it such as labour, environment and the like.

During interactions at the dinner meeting on the eve of the Mini-Ministerial, Mr Shourie noted that discussions on a broad front were required with a view to accommodating issues of concern to various countries, which are at different stages of development.

The Minister also suggested, during the informal exchange, the setting up of a monitoring mechanism to ensure that obligations taken by member countries do not act to their detriment in any manner whatsoever.

In the area of technical assistance, Mr Shourie said the multilateral trading system should focus not only on capacity building to enable developing country members to participate effectively in negotiations but also actively assist them in overcoming the barriers to trade.

This, he said, would be in keeping with the Doha Ministerial Declaration which had put development at the centre of multilateral trade negotiations by underlining the important role that international trade could play in the promotion of economic development and poverty alleviation.

Earlier, to set the ball rolling, the WTO Director-General, Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi, presented an overview of the post-Doha scenario and an assessment of the priorities and challenges on the road to the next ministerial at Cancun.

Ministers exchanged views on a broad range of issues relevant in the context of the ongoing post-Doha negotiations, particularly TRIPS and public health and matters relating to implementation and special and differential treatment which are of significance to the developing countries.

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