Monday, September 11 2006 12:45 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Standing firm on the agricultural issues in the suspended Doha Round of negotiations, Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath has underlined the need of correcting the structural flaws in world trade in agriculture arising out of trade distorting subsidies given by the developed countries.

Nath was speaking at the G-20 High Level Meeting with co-ordinators of other developing country groups in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the small and vulnerable economies, held in Rio de Janeiro yesterday to consider the status of Doha Round of negotiations.

Reiterating that the development content of the Doha Round must not be diluted, the Minister said that the G-20 was united even though it represented diverse interests and emphasised the close co-opeartion and synergies between India and Brazil as well as developed groupings.

Referring to the joint statement of the G-20 meeting which was issued in the Rio last evening, he said, "We remain engaged, but would like to see the response of the developed countries to our communique."

The joint statement issued last evening said, "Agriculture lies at the centre of the Doha Development Agenda. Most of the world's poor make their living out of agriculture. Their livelihood and standard of living are seriously jeopardized by the subsidies and market access barriers prevailing in international agricultural trade."