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National Consultation on “WTO Doha Round and South Asia: Linking Civil Society with Trade Negotiations”,
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A National Consultation Programme on “WTO Doha Round and South Asia: Linking Civil Society with Trade Negotiations” was organized by the IPS on 22 nd September, 2005. Researchers from India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka presented papers on the five key issues under consideration – namely agriculture, non-agricultural market access, services, trade facilitation and development issues – in the run up to the Sixth WTO Ministerial to be held in Hong Kong in December 2005. Jacob George, Faculty of Economics and Development Planning (FEDP) of India presented a paper on “July Package and South Asian Agriculture” discussing the importance of developing a supply chain in order to gain better market access for South Asian agricultural products. The paper discussed key issues with regard to common as well as different trade elements that exist between countries with regard to the three pillars of the agriculture negotiations, viz., domestic support, export subsidies and market access with special reference to South Asia . |
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Ratnakar Adhikari, South Asia Watch on Trade Economics and Environment (SAWTEE) of Nepal, highlighted the implications of the July Package on agriculture for Nepal. Suggested positions for Nepal indicated that the country needs policy flexibility for agriculture development, enlarged export markets along with maintenance of preferences and finding a balance between export competitiveness and import expenditures on food, etc. Dushni Weerakoon, IPS presented a paper on “Non-Agricultural Market Access: South Asian Perspective” on behalf of the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE). The paper, assessing Pakistan's experience on NAMA and the broader South Asian concern in future negotiations, suggests the need to pursue a tariff reduction formula based on bound rates, reduction in tariff escalation to promote value addition, and ensuring flexibility in “staging” of tariff reductions as key concerns. Pranav Kumar, Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS) of India presenting a paper on “Services Negotiations in Doha Round: Concerns of South Asia” highlighted the importance of Mode 4 (movement of natural persons) and implications for South Asian countries in this regard. According to the study, possible elements for future negotiation strategy of South Asian countries include the introduction of a short term GATS visa, doing away with economic tests, relying on the supplying nations for qualification recognition, strict provisions for return migration, etc. Jayanthi Thennakoon, IPS presenting a paper on “WTO Doha Round and South Asia: Trade Facilitation” discussed the current status of South Asian countries with respect to the proposals on trade facilitation under negotiation. As pointed out in the study, though the benefits of trade facilitation are welcomed by these countries, there are concerns on cost of implementation of trade facilitation measures, special and differential treatment and technical assistance. Narayan Chandra Nath, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDE) presented a paper on “Development Dimension in the Doha Round: Concerns of South Asia”. The paper focused on the progress of negotiations made at WTO on development issues and the effectiveness of WTO in addressing the concerns on LDCs. Issues such as food security and rural development, enhanced market access for agricultural products from developing countries, fair and balanced export competition, relaxation and simplification of rules of origin and binding commitments for duty free and quota free market access for LDCs were highlighted as key concerns in future negotiations, while emphasizing the importance of S&D treatment, technical assistance and capacity building for developing and LDC economies. |
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