All eyes on Nath as WTO talks enter third day

All eyes will be on Commerce Minister Kamal Nath as he makes his delayed arrival on July 23, 2008, at WTO talks in Geneva which have so far yielded little convergence between the rich and poor countries. India is a key player in the WTO talks.

Two days of talks have seen little sign of a breakthrough as developing countries gave a frosty reception to proposals by the US and EU to cut agricultural subsidies and tariffs respectively.

About the US offer to cut farm subsidies to $15 billion a year, a member of the Brazilian delegation said, "Nice try." He added that the proposed new subsidy level was "still too high". Brazil has been acting here as an unofficial spokesman for developing countries.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim subsequently struck a slightly more positive note, saying the US move "proves the engagement of US in the negotiations but with a low level of ambition. I think it was a start but just a slow start," he said.

The US overture came after an abortive attempt by EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson to jolt the talks into movement with an announcement that the European Union was now ready to extend tariff cuts on agricultural products to 60% from 54%.

But even Mandelson's fellow EU commissioner Mariann Fischer-Boel said the offer was "nothing new" and Brazil dismissed it as "propaganda". The EU, like the US, is linking concessions in farm trade to steps by emerging countries to take in more manufactured goods.

Mandelson said while the agriculture question was by no means wholly resolved, "it's very clear now that that side of the negotiations, if not closed, is getting behind us and now we have got to concentrate on industrial goods trade". This is a field where "there's a lot of disagreement, a lot of heat but where we have to find an outcome in order to get a deal," he added.

Industrial goods (NAMA) is a key point of the Doha Round for developed countries who are calling for much greater access to emerging markets.

NAMA Chair Canadian Ambassador Don Stephenson has proposed that some 30 developing countries reduce industrial tariffs on the basis of a coefficient formula between 19 and 26 (the lower the coefficient, the greater the cut). (Source: AFP)

July 23, 2008