India rejects draft WTO services schedule by US

India, along with other countries, today shot down a concerted move by the United States, Australia, and Canada to prepare draft scheduling of commitments in Doha services negotiations based on signals made by trade ministers during the failed ministerial meeting last year, a trade envoy told Business Standard.

At an “enchilada” meeting convened by the chair for Doha services negotiations, Ambassador Fernando De Mateo, India said it could not agree to draft services schedules, to be prepared on the basis of signals made by trade ministers in July 2008, saying those were contingent on several other issues in the stalled Doha trade negotiations, the envoy added.

The enchilada meeting is a forum for select trade envoys to advance the Doha services negotiations in which India has some demands.

Developing countries have opposed preparing draft schedule of commitments without first finalising the market access commitments in agriculture and industrial goods as mandated under the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration.

Besides, the draft schedules which have no legal finality is invariably used as a bargaining platform for more demands without addressing the outstanding issues in the Doha services negotiations. “We have ensured the burial of the intermediate product being pushed by the US, Canada and Australia,” the trade envoy said, suggesting it involved preparing a draft schedule of services commitments reflecting the signals made last year.

India and other countries also succeeded today in placing the importance of having strong rules for GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services) rules and adequate disciplines for domestic regulation to ensure that market access commitments are adequately implemented, Business Standard was told.

World Trade Organization (WTO) chief Pascal Lamy would inform trade envoys about the state of play in Doha trade negotiations, said trade diplomats. “Lamy will like the world to believe that there is an intensification of Doha negotiations but the truth is nothing is happening on the ground because of several factors, especially the US’ reluctance to make any bold moves in Doha trade negotiations,” said a trade envoy from an industrialised country.

Select trade envoys, however, agreed to step up their bilateral and plurilateral exchanges in the Doha services cluster during the week starting from November 9 so to get more clarity on the market access outcome- akin to what is being pursued in the agriculture and industrial goods.