Tuesday, May 2 2006 10:02 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Although trade negotiators missed the April 30 deadline for completing modalities in agriculture and industrial tariffs, meeting the December 2006 schedule for concluding the Doha round of WTO talks was crucial for India, a top government official said yesterday (May 1, 2006).

"If we fail to complete Doha round of talks by end of this year, India would also get into the bandwagon of Free Trade Agreements and Regional Trading Agreements.. And these FTAs generally benefit the larger player," Commerce Secretary S N Menon said at a TERI workshop on WTO here.

Even though the April 30 deadline has been missed, negotiators should not be discouraged, he said, adding the next three-four weeks are likely to see intense and sharp negotiations at the World Trade Organisation. But, he warned that if talks could not be completed by July, it would be difficult to meet the December schedule.

"Menon said multilateral trade should be conducted in a fair manner so that it raises the living standard of people in poor and developing countries. A major issue in concluding these talks is their development outcome," he said.

The negotiations in agriculture trade were the most critical, he said, while rejecting a recent US proposal on Special Products and Special Safeguards Mechanism that would have reduced the protection available to farmers of poor and developing countries.

Menon also said the government was planning to set up a national centre for trade policy that would help in networking, research activities and provide training to officials involved in trade negotiations.