Chairs chart middle path to revive Doha

Chairs chart middle path to revive Doha
From D Ravi Kanth,DH News Service,Geneva:
In an attempt to revive the teetering Doha Round, the chairs for agriculture and industrials negotiations, on Tuesday, tabled what they claimed middle ground compromise texts...

In an attempt to revive the teetering Doha Round, the chairs for agriculture and industrials negotiations, on Tuesday, tabled what they claimed middle ground compromise texts.
But developing country trade diplomats expressed concern that the two chairs — Ambassador Crawford Falconer for agriculture and Ambassador Don Stephenson — weakened the “developmental” component as mandated in Doha agreement, the July 2004 framework agreement and Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration.
Proposed farm cut
The chair for Doha farm negotiations proposed a cut between 33 and 47 per cent for farm products entering into India and other developing country markets. Effectively, developing countries will have to reduce on an average of more than 40 per cent while G-20 had proposed 36 per cent.
More work needed
On India’s major demand for special products, Ambassador Crawford Falconer stated more work needs to be done on the basis of indicators presented by G-33 developing country coalition. He remained silent on the number of special products as well as degree of tariff reduction for those products. Earlier, the chair proposed a cut between 10-20 per cent for special products.
Decision later
Stating that “a number of you (India, China, Indonesia and others) have made clear to me that you disagree with that view,” he said he will leave the issue to be decided later.
The chair suggested a reduction between 66 per cent and 73 per cent for the United States in its trade-distorting domestic subsidies that amount to reducing them to a level of US$ 13-16.4 billion. India and other developing countries in the G-20 had called for a reduction to less than US$12 billion, diplomats said. On cuts in import tariffs for industrial products for developing countries, the chair for Doha industrials negotiations Ambassador Don Stephenson suggested a coefficient between 19 and 23 that would bring India’s bound duties from 34 per cent to 12-13 per cent.