Thursday, April 6 2006 11:57 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: World Trade Organisation today (Apr 6, 2006) warned that India and other developing countries stand to lose much more than their developed counterparts if the ongoing trade talks fail.

"India has a huge stake at the trade negotiations. If it (the talks) fails India may be one of the victims," WTO Director General Pascal Lamy said in the wake of crucial April 30 deadline approaching for finalising modalities in agriculture and industrial tariffs trade negotiations.

For India both in trade and diplomatic terms, Lamy said, 'keeping and solidifying' the multilateral trading system was a huge issue and beneficial to the economy.

Stressing that WTO negotiations had approached 'last spasm as in any other talks, Lamy said it was important that all 150 member countries work towards a collective discipline by successfully completing the current Doha Round of trade talks.

The current round of trade negotiations to liberalise the global trade further was launched in Doha in 2001.

Lamy is now on a two-day visit to India as part of his whistle-stop tour of key member countries to push the trade talks mired by differences on cuts in farm subsidies and reduction in industrial tarrifs.

"Though there are 20-25 issues on the table in the trade talks, which are to be clinched by this year end, the farm and industrial tariffs were two crucial issues without which it will be difficult to arrive at a consensus for completion of Doha round of talks," he said.

India and other developing countries have been insisting on resolving agriculture issue first. But advanced nations want developing countries to commit to a greater reduction in industrial tariffs for any concession in agriculture.

"In any negotiations, the weakest are weak and the strongest are in a strong position and this applied to WTO negotiations as well," Lamy said.

"But, a failure of WTO negotiations will hit the weakest the hardest as rule-based trading system would benefit the developing countries more," he said.

Emphasising the need for adopting a flexible approach on industrial tariffs, Lamy said three-fourth's of the global exports were from the developing countries and further opening up would benefit them even as it provided market to developed countries as well.

Lamy said emerging economies like India, Brazil and China must be prepared to make more efforts on industrial tariffs as they would be the major gainers.

"India and China have to do more effort. EU and the US are being asked to bite into their existing subsidies, so India and Brazil, who have huge differences in their applied and bound tariffs will have to see how much they can bite into their applied tariffs," Lamy said.

Asked if he was optimistic about forward movement in WTO talks, Lamy said, "I am never pessimistic or optimistic. It is doable but not yet done.

"The issue is clearly political," he said, adding that the WTO trade negotiators are meeting in Geneva from April 18 after which a Ministerial of key 25-30 member countries would be held in April end or May first week to finalise the modalities for agriculture and industrial tariff negotiations.