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New hope for barrier-free world trade By B Shankar It's only six months since the Geneva trade talks collapsed putting the Doha Round in jeopardy, WTO chief General Pascal Lamy is back, doing what he does the best. Lamy is in a hurry, for the special powers enjoyed by the US President to get a trade pact passed in US Congress expires in mid-2007. And if that deadline is crossed, the prospect of a new global trade pact is likely to get dimmer as without the world's largest trading nation, a global trade pact would have little meaning. Hence, days before 30 countries are scheduled to meet in Switzerland in a bid to examine the possibility of reviving the Doha Round, Lamy was in India last week, meeting the government functionaries and industry leaders and trying to convince them to be more flexible during any future round of negotiations. India, along with Brazil, is considered major players, who hold the key on any possibility of the WTO talks. Launched in 2001, the Doha Round was aimed at easing poverty through trade and boost the global economy but talks came to a grinding halt in July 2006 owing to the differences between the US, EU and developing nations, mainly on farm tariffs and subsidies. The last WTO meeting had collapsed in July over major differences between the developed and the developing countries on Non-Agricultural Market Access and issues concerning agriculture. The last WTO meeting had collapsed in July over major differences between the developed and the developing countries on Non-Agricultural Market Access and issues concerning agriculture. Several countries, including the US, remained stuck on their positions on agriculture subsidies as the developing world fought tooth and nail against what they called trade-distorting subsidies of the developed world. While India and Brazil represent the developing countries, the European Union and the US are the main voices of the developed world. India is willing to make concessions in industrial goods, but is committed to protecting its agriculture sector, especially the subsistence farmers. When in India, the WTO DG was presumably trying to make the most of the new-found Indo-US bonhomie. Lamy did hint in a possible thaw very soon. "My understanding is that the US and the EU have started testing new positions. Something is cooking but it is not at the point of being served. It also needs Indian spices. Apart from India, Brazil, the US and EU, other chefs like Japan and Australia have to contribute to it," he said in New Delhi after meeting Commerce Minister Kamal Nath. Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath also hoped that the process should get started and timeliness are set for completion of the round. This definitely brings a fresh ray of hope for the Indian trade and industry, which is waiting to make a killing in a free trade regime. When the trade talks had collapsed last July, industry chambers like FICCI, Assocham and CII had lambasted the developed countries for piling up unreasonable demands on the developing countries, which, they say were too unfair to be conceded. For instance, the industry says the developed countries' demands on Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) and agriculture were unfair to the infant industries of the developing countries like India and the millions of subsistence farmers. In fact, much of the deadlock surrounding the Doha Round centred around farm trade, particularly US farm subsidies and EU duties on agricultural imports. All through this round, it seemed the developed nations were only keen to gain market access for their products in the developing countries while they themselves were not willing to concede even an inch in terms of providing access to other countries --read the developing and least developed countries This effectively meant developing countries like India opening their markets for subsidised agricultural products of the developed nations. On the non-agricultural front too, the developing countries have a certain obligation to protect their own industries and cannot reduce duties on manufactured products without any domestic safeguards.