The Hindu Business Line : Focus on farm issues at Sao Paulo — India offers to host G-20 ministerial meet

INDIA and other major agricultural producers, the US, European Union, Brazil and Australia, discussed agriculture issues in the WTO negotiations, stating that any framework agreement to be evolved for Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) should duly recognise the sensitivities of member countries.

Meeting under the aegis of the NG (non-group), an informal conclave of five key WTO members, on the sidelines of the United Nations Conference on Trade & Development (Unctad), currently under way in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the trade ministers comprising Mr Kamal Nath, Indian Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Pascal Lamy, Trade Commissioner, EU, Mr Robert Zoellick, US Trade Representative, Mr Celso Amorim, Brazilian Foreign Minister, and Mr Mark Vaile, Minister of Trade of Australia, said the discussions were fruitful and constructive.

The NG-5 discussed agriculture issues in the WTO negotiations with reference to the three main pillars of AoA viz., domestic support, export competition and market access and resolved to proceed towards working out a framework pact for negotiations on all the three pillars in parallel. The discussions point to the possibility of a framework pact for the negotiations on agriculture by the mandated timeframe of July 2004.

Earlier in his bilateral meetings with Mr Zoellick and Mr Amorim, Mr Nath underlined India's sensitivities in the area of agriculture and hoped that the July framework must capture the essential interests of all countries.

He also invited the G-20 to hold its next ministerial meeting in India, as Brazil is the coordinator of G-20, an alliance of mainly agricultural producer countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America that was formed pre-Cancun of the WTO.

Later, following the Ministerial meeting of G-20, in which Mr Nath took part, a Ministerial communiqué was issued, stating that the meeting assessed the current stage of Doha round negotiations with special emphasis on agriculture and considered the next steps in the negotiations.

They noted that negotiations on agriculture were key to move the Doha round to a successful and timely end. Trade in agricultural products continued to be blocked by all sorts of barriers and distortions and therefore, true liberalisation in agricultural trade must include reforms to address such barriers and distortions in order to achieve the development objectives of the Doha Round.

The Ministers also hailed the fact that the G-20 document on market access has prompted renewed substantive discussion on the market access issues in agriculture and a allowed for better understanding of each members' position and issues which would have to be resolved.