India ready to resume Doha Round talks

India is willing to once again engage in global trade talks if the World Trade Organization (WTO) decides to reopen the stalled Doha Round, an official said here today.

“The basic issue is whether India would be willing to engage if there is movement in Geneva in September. We have said that if WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy says there is a chance for re-opening the talks, we would be prepared to come again to Geneva,” Commerce Secretary Gopal K Pillai said on the sidelines of a Ficci-CUTS seminar here.

Lamy, who also attended the two-day seminar, met Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well as senior government officials to discuss issues related to the stalled Doha Round.

This was Lamy’s first visit to India after the mini-ministerial meeting of trade ministers on the Doha Round collapsed last month as India and the United States were not able to bridge their differences over the Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM).

This mechanism outlines norms that allow developing and poor countries to impose additional duties on farm products in case there is a surge in farm import, which results in lower prices, thereby affecting livelihood of substance farmers.

“Lamy will be visiting Washington and then he will consult the US administration to see whether there is some scope for further engagement at Geneva and see whether the round can be closed this year,” Pillai added.

It remains to be seen as to how Lamy will bridge the gap on SSMs, which essentially is a contentious issue for key farm exporters like the US and Brazil on one side and countries like India on the other. Sources said Lamy is also in talks with other nations on restarting the talks.

“There cannot be any compromise on livelihood concerns of substance farmers and that position has been very clear. Measures like SSMs and Special Products have been put in the Honk Kong Ministerial declaration and the framework agreement only for the protection of substance farmers. There cannot be any compromise,” Pillai added.

This tough stance taken by India on SSMs is likely to make Lamy’s initiative to reboot the stalled talks difficult.

According to Lamy, WTO member nations are keen to restart the talks and conclude it by the end of the year. “In spite of these differences (on issues like SSMs), what Members told us very clearly during the plenary meetings held at the end of the talks, is that the negotiations should not be abandoned at this point. In the view of our Members, too much has been achieved now, to simply leave it aside,” Lamy had said in the Ficci-CUTS seminar on Tuesday.