May 23, 2008	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 17, 1429

NEW DELHI, May 22: New draft texts on industrial goods aimed at clinching an elusive deal in global trade talks will have to be “completely revised,” India’s commerce minister said on Thursday.

The World Trade Organisation’s Doha round of talks to reduce trade barriers was launched in 2001 with the target of reaching an agreement by 2004.

But negotiations have long foundered over rows between developed and developing countries on agricultural subsidies and industrial tariffs.

“This text (on industrial goods) would have to be completely revised and significant convergence achieved before taking the matter for deliberation at the ministerial level,” Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said in a statement.

The minister said India was ready for a ministerial meeting but a lot of work needed to be done to narrow differences on both farm and industrial goods proposals.

“Technical discussions on both texts would start from next week and hard negotiations lie ahead,” Nath said.

Nath also underlined concerns on tariff reduction for farm products.

His statement came a day after commerce secretary G.K. Pillai said the new WTO texts ignored farm livelihoods.

The latest texts propose an average 54 per cent cut in customs duties on agricultural imports in developed countries and 36 per cent in developing nations, and a reduction in farm subsidies of 75 or 85 per cent in the European Union and 66 or 73 per cent for Japan and the United States.

The new farm text is also reported to have made headway on “sensitive” products that countries could shield from a sharp fall in customs duties.

Developed countries would be able to designate up to four or six per cent of their imported agricultural goods as “sensitive” while committing themselves to an overall quota for imported products.

In the industrial sector, about 30 emerging market countries would agree to reduce their customs duties to a maximum level of 19 to 26 per cent. The more the tariffs are lowered, the greater would be the right of governments to protect certain “sensitive” items.—AFP