Resolve implementation issues before next round — Maran

Maran emphasised the importance of confidence building measures to restore the credibility of the multilateral trading system among the developing countries as a just and fair regime.

Maran said so far the resolution of implementation issues had been disappointing and said that it would be unfair to impose a fresh burden without implementing the existing commitments. A new round of negotiations should be launched only after arriving at a broad consensus on the on the agenda, he added.

The minister, however, reiterated that India was fully committed to the ongoing mandated negotiations in agriculture & services and the mandated reviews. “In agriculture, sufficient flexibility for our domestic policies to take care of the country’s food security and rural employment concerns should be ensured”, he stressed.

On his part, Moore called for an early launch of the next round of negotiations, even while conceding that there were differences in the perceptions of the member countries on several issues, including labour standards. He also expressed concern over the increasing trend towardsregional and bilateral arrangements. Maran felt that the WTO should address the concerns of the developing countries and help in removing the imbalances in the existing WTO agreements.