India ups ante |
India is set to up the ante at the WTO meet to ensure that its interests are adequately taken care of after a draft text on agriculture did not address its concerns and largely focused on an agreement on elimination of export subsidies on farm goods and phasing out government support for marketing and transport of agricultural products.India is also not satisfied with the text on fisheries trade that has proposed punitive action for unauthorized fishing, something that many developing countries are not comfortable with given that it goes back on the tentative agreement reached in 2008. While the details of export competition, dealing with subsidies and government support set out clear timelines, India`s key interest on a special safeguard mechanism for developing countries to deal with import surges was largely absent. The text only says that the issue would be "pursued" in the context of "agricultural market access". In other words, it would be decided when WTO members decide on duty cuts for farm goods, something that is not being discussed at the moment.
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