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London, Nov. 8 (PTI): In a significant bid to bring the current Doha round of WTO negotiations back on track, India on Monday strongly stressed that development must occupy the centre-stage in the talks as the real issues still remained clouded with just a month remaining for the Ministerial Conference.

In a letter addressed to trade ministers of the 148 member countries of the WTO, which he released at a news conference here ahead of a meeting of the G-4, India's Commerce and Industry Minister, Kamal Nath, cautioned that the negotiations launched at Doha was called the "Development round" and not a "Market Access Round."

Hence, "our endeavour should be to ensure success at Hong Kong without glossing over the critical aspects - aspects which form the very basis of a Development Round or else there will be no success." WTO is not about free trade alone but also fair trade, he said.

Taking the leadership role, India hosted an informal Ministerial meeting of G-4, comprising the European Union, the United States, Brazil and Japan at the India House to discuss pending WTO issues.

The meeting was attended among others by EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, US Trade Representative Rob Portman, Japan's Trade and Industry Minister, T Nikai, and Brazilian Minister for External Relations Celso Amorim.

Asserting that agriculture in developing countries like India is not commerce, Nath flayed the demand of some members for "real" market access in it, saying such moves undermined the policy space for developing countries as also the agreement of the Doha mandate and the July framework to make special and differential treatment for developing countries integral to all aspects of the negotiations.

They would also distract from the real need to ensure a level-playing field for developing countries.

"Tariff reduction is not the only pre-condition for market access. For real market access to accrue, it is also necessary that export subsidies, domestic support and non-tariff barriers are eliminated," he said.

The Minister said India remained committed to the G-20 offer of October 12 2005 which called for proportionately lower commitments by developing countries than those by the developed countries, and full satisfaction on the effectiveness and operational content of Special Products (SPs) and Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM) to enable developing countries to meet their food security, livelihood security and rural development needs, without restriction or limitation.

Nath also welcomed the proposal of the African-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) countries who had come forward with a generous offer despite their known capacity constraints.

Source: The Hindu More