NEW DELHI (AFP) — India has rejected new draft texts on farm and industrial goods aimed at clinching a new deal in global trade talks as "totally unacceptable."
India's commerce secretary G.K. Pillai said the new WTO texts ignored farm livelihood concerns, and he accused rich nations of seeking to "divide and rule" developing countries on the issue of industrial product tariff cuts.
"There will be no deal if our core national interests are not protected," Pillai said late on Tuesday.
The proposals on tariff cuts on industrial goods were a "total mess" and needed to be redrafted, Pillai added.
The World Trade Organisation's Doha round of talks to reduce trade barriers was launched in the Qatari capital in November 2001 with the aim of reaching a deal by 2004.
But the round has foundered ever since, mainly over rows between developed and developing countries on agricultural subsidies and industrial tariffs.
Pillai conceded that the number of differences between rich and poor nations over agriculture had been reduced. But he said "total neglect" of the livelihood concerns of India's poor farmers were "totally unacceptable."
His comments came after WTO head Pascal Lamy said earlier on Tuesday that the Doha talks were nearing the "end game" with the new draft texts on farm and industrial goods providing a "springboard to a new and crucial stage."
Developing countries have been pressing for greater access for their agricultural goods to markets in the developed world.
Rich countries are in turn seeking a better deal in emerging market economies for their industrial products and services.
India's trade minister Kamal Nath has continually insisted that New Delhi will not sacrifice the interests of its millions of subsistence farmers to clinch a deal in the trade talks.
The latest texts propose an average 54 percent cut in customs duties on agricultural imports in developed countries and 36 percent in developing nations, and a reduction in farm subsidies of 75 or 85 percent in the European Union and 66 or 73 percent 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 percent 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 percent. The more the tariffs are lowered, the greater would be the right of governments to protect certain "sensitive" items.
Negotiators seeking to draw a link between the agricultural and industrial trade sectors are to begin talks by the end of the month, sources say.
If they make progress at that level, trade ministers could convene by the end of June to conclude negotiations on agriculture and industry and to debate two other key subject areas -- the services sector and trade regulations.
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