India also expressed concerns about attempts by developed countries to club long-standing development issues with new issues of trade and industrial policy
NEW DELHI : India expressed concerns about the increasing use of unilateral trade protectionist measures being justified in the guise of environmental protection, at the World Trade Organization’s 13th ministerial conference that began in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
Speaking at a session on sustainable development and policy space for industrialization, India’s commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal said the country has propagated a sustainable way of living as a key to combating climate change.
These, he said, are based on traditions and values of conservation and moderation, including through a mass movement for ‘Life Style for Environment’.
Barthwal expressed concerns about the increasing use of trade protectionist unilateral measures that are being justified in the guise of environmental protection.
Developing countries seek appropriate policy space to find solutions to their concerns, some of which have been left unaddressed for long, Barthwal said.
“India is of the firm view that developing countries require flexibility in the existing WTO agreements to overcome the constraints faced by them in their industrialization,” he added.
He also expressed concerns about attempts by developed countries to club long-standing development issues such as policy space for industrial development with new issues of trade and industrial policy.
Trade ministers and top bureaucrats from 164 countries are meeting in Abu Dhabi to tackle a broad range of topics, including agriculture, fisheries, and the link between trade and sustainable development.
WTO’s member nations will also discuss banning subsidies that contribute to overfishing, extending a pause on taxes on digital media such as movies and video games, and agricultural issues.
However, big deals are unlikely to get through as various countries are yet to agree on key issues. WTO’s rules require full consensus among all 164 member states.
Speaking at another session on ‘Trade and Inclusion’, the commerce secretary said the members mixing non-trade topics with WTO rules can lead to greater trade fragmentation.
“Bringing issues like gender and (micro, small and medium enterprises) in the realm of WTO discussions was not practical because these issues were being discussed in other relevant international organisations already,” Barthwal said.
Issues like inclusion are better addressed through contextual and targeted national measures and these do not fall in the domain of international trade relations, he added.
Barthwal said several developed countries were already considering adopting trade distortive subsidies and had erected non-trade barriers in the name of non-trade issues, expressing concerns about unilateralism and its negative spillover effect on the trade interests of developing countries.