The Hindu Business Line : `Developing countries need special treatment'

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has urged the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to ensure that developing countries are given special and differential treatment (S&D) as per the mandate of the ongoing Doha negotiations.

In a letter to the Director General of the WTO, Mr Pascal Lamy, the chamber has said that it supported the multilateral negotiations of the WTO and wanted the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) to be a success.

The S&D and the "less than full reciprocity" principles of the Doha Round would ensure that tariff reduction commitments by developing countries are lower than those of developed countries, according to the chamber.

Director General of CII, Mr N. Srinivasan said that Indian industry would like to see higher market access in developed country markets for products manufactured by developing countries at the end of the Doha Round. This would be best achieved by targeting tariff peaks and tariff escalations in products such as textiles and leather products manufactured by developing countries, the letter said.

In agriculture there should be a meaningful proposal from the developed countries in areas such as market access and domestic support, according to the chamber.

The letter added that there was a need for some real progress in agriculture from all developed country members and these must be on the table before they could demand anything from developing countries on non-agricultural market access.

The chamber felt that two important modes of supply where market access commitments are needed for the Indian industry are mode - 1 (cross border supply) and mode - 4 (movement of natural persons).

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