Date:02/07/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/07/02/stories/2006070203601500.htm

Business

CII backs Indian stand at WTO Geneva meet

NEW DELHI: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has endorsed the united and undiluted stand of the Indian negotiating team led by Commerce and Industry Minister kamal Nath at the World Trade Organization (WTO) Mini Ministerial Meeting in Geneva.

The opposition to renegotiation of issues already embodied in the Hong Kong declaration has been vindicated. The G-20 has demonstrated firmly that it will not compromise on the development aspect of the Doha Round, the CII said in a statement on Saturday.

R. V. Kanoria, Chairman of the CII Committee on WTO, and N. Kumar, Past President of CII. who are in Geneva as part of the official delegation, said, "Development is at the heart of the Doha Round. If the heart does not beat with conviction, it will obviously take its toll on the health of the negotiations as a whole.''

The CII supports wholeheartedly Mr. kamal Nath and the G-20 that subsistence and livelihood cannot be negotiated. The G-20 should remain firm on special products, special safeguard measures and sensitive products.

The CII believes that unless domestic support, export subsidy and market access are addressed simultaneously along with flexibilities, the round will not progress, the release adds.

It believes that bilateralism is no substitute for multilateral trade liberalisation and urges all WTO members to successfully conclude the round by end-2006.