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India, China and Brazil have come a long way in global trade negotiations emerging as "big brothers",
WTO head Pascal Lamy has said. "Among the big brothers (in WTO) are
the big developing countries. China, India and Brazil (are the) three
big brothers," he said.
The three countries, along with key players like Australia, EU and the US have been termed as the world
of today. Lamy referred to the growing influence of the three among
the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) economies.
According to Lamy, things have changed in the past 13 years since the end of the Uruguay Round in 1995 when
a quad of the US, EU, Canada and Japan used to be pre-dominant
players in the negotiations.
Meanwhile, India has urged Lamy to "keep everything on the table" for resuming the faltering Doha
Development Agenda trade talks - a message that goes against attempts
to "freeze" the convergence secured on different elements within
agriculture and market-opening for industrial goods.
During closed-door meetings between India's Commerce Minister Kamal Nath and Lamy in New
Delhi, India warned against "locking-in" any convergence that was
achieved at the failed ministerial meeting last month.
"What we have said unambiguously is 'keep everything on the table' until there is
clarity on all the issues within the Doha agriculture and
market-opening for industrial goods," a senior government official
said.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has rejected a suggestion that India should
step out of the WTO because of high agricultural subsidies in the
developed countries.
"The question of agricultural subsidies has prompted some people to suggest that India should step
out of the WTO. Such a step would be self-defeating. We would be
singled out and left without support," Pawar said in his recent
book 'Fast Forward'.
"Dramatic" WTO farm deal close if talks revive
A world trade deal that dramatically opens livestock markets in the EU, Canada and Japan is within grasp
if talks that collapsed last month in Geneva can be revived.
US Trade Representative Susan Schwab had hinted at the scope of the deal, saying, "We had on the table
dramatic market opening potential on the part of developed countries,
some modest market opening potential on the part of the emerging
markets."
US officials have said they see no point in getting Schwab and other ministers together again as long as
countries remain at loggerheads on that point. (Source: The Hindu,
The Economic Times, Washington Trade Delhi, The Guardian)
August 18, 2008
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