Second India-Eu Business Summit
November 22-23, 2001, New Delhi

Address by Mr Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State for Commerce

Hon'ble Madam Annemie Neyts, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Belgium, Shri Sanjiv Goenka, President, CII and
friends :

We are happy that the Doha Declaration states very clearly that it attaches utmost importance to Implementation Concerns. We see it as a recognition of the commitment that the Uruguay Round imbalances and asymmetries should be urgently addressed.

While some of the decisions on Implementation Issues taken by the Doha Ministerial Conference would bring immediate benefits, we hope that all the outstanding issues would be adequately addressed through negotiations or by the subsidiary bodies. This will promote confidence and lend greater credibility to WTO in developing countries.

A separate landmark declaration on TRIPS and Public Health is a major achievement of Doha in which India also played a key role. It recognises the affordability and availability of medicines as a universal right. It would now enable Member countries to take measures to protect public health as the Declaration recognises the flexibility under the TRIPS Agreement when dealing with public health problems affecting human beings such as HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and other epidemics and the respective national governments would decide about emergencies and epidemics and take appropriate measures to ensure access to medicines.

Negotiations in market access will now take place in all the three areas of agriculture, non-agricultural products and services. There are sufficient in-built provisions in these mandates to safeguard and promote the interests and concerns of developing countries. What is important is that during the course of the negotiating process their development needs are fully taken into account and not side-stepped.

In particular, the recognition given to food security and rural development, needs to manifest itself in sufficient flexibilities and safety nets in the farm sector. Similarly in respect of industrial goods the negotiations should focus on the elimination of peak tariff escalations in areas of interest to developing countries such as in textiles, leather products etc. The business community present here would be aware, of the keen interest the developing countries have in movement of natural persons in the services sector. It is hoped that the developed countries would respond positively to these aspirations.

As for the four Singapore Issues viz. Relationship between Trade and Investment, Interaction between Trade and Competition Policy, Transparency in Government Procurement and Trade Facilitation, it is a welcome development that the Ministerial Declaration provides for the study process to continue till the Fifth Ministerial Conference when a decision on negotiations will be taken on the basis of explicit consensus. It is important that during this period greater focus is paid to examining developing country friendly approaches to these issues which do not take away the flexibilities presently available for policy making in these areas.

On Environment, negotiations have been proposed in certain limited areas such as the relationship between WTO Rules and Multilateral Environment Agreements. Developing countries have agreed to these in good faith and on the promise in the mandate that outcome of the negotiations shall not add or diminish the rights and obligations of the members under the existing agreements. It is very important that these parameters are observed during and after the negotiations.

The TRIPS Agreement has aroused many concerns among the stake-holders. The Declaration provides an opportunity for addressing issues such as extension of protection of geographical indications to products other than wines and spirit, relationship between TRIPS Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity and the protection of traditional knowledge and folklore. Negotiations should seek to set right the imbalances.

Unlike the Uruguay Round Agreements which left behind a trail of bitterness and a feeling of inequity, the Doha Declaration can make a new beginning and presents an opportunity to make amends. I am sure the business community of India and EU will respond positively to this challenge.

Thank you.