FORTHCOMING EVENTS
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Panel
Discussion titled Post-Doha Scenario: The State of Play 23rd Sept. 02, FICCI Conference Hall, Tansen Marg, New Delhi |
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Panel
Discussion titled Post-Doha Scenario: The State of Play CUTS
Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment will organise
a Panel Discussion titled Post-Doha Scenario:
The State of Play. Invited panelists are: Jairam
Ramesh, Economist This
will be preceded by the release of a book titled “WTO and India: An
Agenda for Action in the Post-Doha Scenario” written by Pradeep Mehta,
and foreword by Prof. Jagdish Bhagwati of Columbia University, New York,
USA. For further information Apurva
Dayal/Purnima Purohit Panel Discussion
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Post Doha WTO: Current State of Play and the Way Forward, New
Delhi, 23 September 2002 At
the fourth ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO),
held at Doha, Qatar in November 2001, three declarations were adopted. The
first laid out the main text, the second dealt with TRIPs (trade-related
htmlects of intellectual property rights) and public health, and the third
dealt with implementation issues. Where the third declaration is
concerned, the main issues revolved around special and differential
treatment (S&DT). S&DT
are provided in various WTO agreements as concessions for developing and
least developed countries. These include longer-term commitments and
flexibilities in the implementation of the particular agreement. This
issue was put on the agenda at Seattle, but since the meeting collapsed
for several reasons, all the complex issues were left unresolved. Following
the failure of the Seattle meeting, the WTO members decided that each of
the contentious issues of the aborted Seattle Ministerial Declaration
would be resolved before the next ministerial meeting. But things did not
move at all, as the influential countries did not see any gain for
themselves. Therefore, as a counter tactic in the hectic pre-Doha
negotiations, the poor countries submitted a demand asking for a
stand-alone agreement on S&DT, as it is the most important issue for
them. However
that was not agreed and what ultimately transpired at Doha was an
agreement to negotiate the issues and arrive at clear recommendations to
be presented to the WTO General Council by 31 July 2002. Not
unexpectedly, the matter has dragged, with the US even suggesting that the
issue of S&DT be studied conceptually! This has raised the hackles of
the poor countries, because there was a clear agreement at Doha to
negotiate the operationalisation of S&DT in each area, and not have a
mere chat session. For
developing countries, who wanted to see genuine progress made at the WTO,
coming up against the wall of US resistance has been extremely
frustrating. “Join us”, the developing countries were told at Doha by
the US and the EU, “and we will bring your concerns into the heart of
the negotiations”, referring to the forthcoming negotiations as the
‘Development Round’. But since then, very little has been achieved. In
the wake of September 11 and the prospect of a much less secure world, the
US and EU were able to make a concerted effort to ensure that the stalled
WTO received a jumpstart. A very tight negotiating timetable and a plan
for the Round to be finished in 2005 intended to push things along were
initiated. However,
this timetable is already proving to be utterly unrealistic, and not
because of developing countries’ actions. On the contrary, it is the US
and the EU who are holding things up and their over-ambitious timetable
looks set to backfire. What are the way outs of this scenario_ Structure The
discussion will be held for two hours – 5 to 7p.m. The moderator will
introduce the subject and there will be one main speaker, followed by
brief comments from other panellists. After this, there will be floor
discussions, followed by wrap up by the moderator. For more information, please contact Apurva Dayal/Purnima Purohit atContact Us |
Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS)D–217, Bhaskar Marg, Bani Park, Jaipur 302 016, India, Ph:
+91(0)141-207 482 Fx: 91(0)141-207 486/203 998 Email: |
D-217, Bhaskar Marg, Bani Park, Jaipur 302 016, India Phone: 91.141.207 482, Fax: 91.141.207 486/203 998 |
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