Core group agrees on framework for agriculture

The meeting discussed agriculture issues in the WTO negotiations with reference to the 8216;8216;three main pillars of the agreement on agriculture8217;8217; including domestic support, export competition and market access, an official statement said.

The other two members of the group are Australia and Brazil. India and Brazil represent the views of G-20 in the deliberations.

India was represented by commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath. The others who participated in the meeting were US trade representative Robert Zoellick, EC trade commissioner Pascal Lamy, Australia8217;s trade minister Mark Vaile and Brazilian foreign minister Celso Amorim. During his negotiations, Nath underlined India8217;s sensitivities in agriculture and stressed that the framework must capture the essential interests of all countries.

Nath has offered to make India the host for the next ministerial meeting of group of 20 developing countries G-20. The offer was made during a bilateral meeting with Amorim in Sao Paulo during the week end.