India works out WTO farm deal but fingers still crossed

The five countries handed their ‘‘guidance’’ on how to overcome rifts on farm-related stumbling blocks to the WTO’s chief farming negotiator Tim Groser.

Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, currently in Geneva, had continued to voice India’s concerns in the lack of balance in the draft framework circulated by the WTO earlier this month.

The closed-door debate in Geneva delayed the production of a revised proposal to salvage global trade talks and ruffled the feathers of many other delegations who felt left out. ‘‘I welcome the agreement on agriculture among five key members of the WTO,’’ said WTO director general Supachai Panitchpakdi.

‘‘This is an important input into our talks and gives momentum to our efforts at achieving this July package,” he said in a statment. ‘‘But I must caution that no WTO agricultural framework deal is possible without consensus from the entire membership of the organisation.’’

The comments came as the WTO’s 147 delegates waited for a final draft proposal on agriculture and other hot trade topics, which will form a framework to advance the current round of trade talks.

The so-called Doha round was derailed after a failed WTO conference in Cancun, Mexico last September.

India has often expressed its concerns on subsidies paid by the US and EU governments to their farmers which in turn skew global trade in agricultural products.

It is on these grounds that India has consistently refused to lower import duties on agri products to the extent the West would like.

India’s stand so far has been that the approach on agriculture has been flawed against the developing countries. In the current round, New Delhi also highlighted concerns in areas of non-agricultural market access, services and implementation.

Meanwhile, some members said they were outraged at secret debates among the five key players and said that a ‘‘price’’ would have to be paid.

‘‘It is catastrophic,’’ declared Switzerland’s Chief Trade Negotiator Luzius Wasescha. The so-called five interested parties (FIPs) ‘‘consider themselves to be the leaders of the world and they are not, they are not even able to negotiate properly,’’ he said. — with AFP