The Hindu Business Line : `Strong alliance must for success of WTO Doha round'

FROM the agricultural standpoint, the signals for a successful Doha round are getting weaker as negotiations lag on, putting other non-agricultural trade issues and business opportunities at risk, Mr Joachim von Braun, Director-General of Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute, said at the annual meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

For the World Trade Organisation's Doha round to benefit the poor, action was needed in 2005 in three areas namely, improved access to their markets by OECD countries, avoidance of protectionism by developing countries and provision of more assistance by rich nations to connect poor farmers to markets, he pointed out.

Suggesting that the positions of the world's big players were currently changing and that these would have implications for the rest of the world, Mr von Braun said developments such as the US heading to become a net importer of food and agricultural products in 2005 while China and India have drawn down their grain reserves create opportunities for farm goods producing poor nations to enhance exports.

For the Doha round to succeed, it was necessary for countries with export potential (such as Brazil) and countries that cannot participate in subsidy competition (low income countries including large ones such as India) to forge an alliance, he pointed out.

The next Ministerial meeting is scheduled for December 2005 in Hong Kong.

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`Strong alliance must for success of WTO Doha round'