So what's new? One would say. Yet again negotiations among India, Brazil, the European Union and the United States failed during the WTO's Doha round in Potsdam, Germany, when India rightly stood firm on the issue of agricultural market access and insisted developing counties be given flexibility to address livelihood and food security concerns.

Union Commerce Minister Kamal Nath has rightly said that India would not compromise on the issue of market access for farm products to seal a global trade deal.

"There can be no exchange rate for corrective distortions and issues of livelihood security. As far as agriculture is concerned India has always maintained that there can be no compromise with our farmers," Nath said.

"The developed countries are looking at promoting and protecting the prosperity of their farmers. Whereas in India we are talking of protecting livelihood of farmers. Certainly, there cannot be a trade-off between prosperity and livelihood," Nath said.

He also cautioned the European Union and the US against attempting to divide the developing countries to push the talks forward.

Hopes of a global trade deal this year have dimmed after the latest talks collapsed recently.

The Minister went on to say that India has always maintained that "this is a development round and headline of the development round is the removal of distortions in global trade represented by the agricultural subsidies which are given by the developed countries. Subsidies cause a distortion in agriculture prices, leads to prices which are not fair."

Brazil and India, the main negotiators for the developing countries, said the US and the EU were demanding too high a price for cutting their trade distorting farm policies.

The meeting between India, US, EU and Brazil, or the G-4, was believed as a chance to hammer out an agreement on trade, agriculture, manufactured goods and services that could be used for a springboard for a new world trade this year.

Mr. Divya Aggarwal

Money Management Consultants Ltd

Senior Copy Editor, Money Management Consultants Ltd
New Delhi, India

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