India & the World Trade Organization |
Millennium Round The European Communities and some of other developed countries have put forward the idea of a comprehensive round of negotiations in the year 2000 ("Millennium Round"). At the special session of the General Council of the WTO held in Geneva in September 1998 marking the start of the process leading to the Third Ministerial Conference, our perception was conveyed that such initiatives - whether of a Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) or a Millennium Round - were premature, as developing countries are in the process of implementing the obligations arising out of the Uruguay Round Agreements and time was needed to assess the impact of taking on these commitments before entering into any new obligations. India is still in the processing of implementing the last round of tariff negotiations which will go on at least till the year 2000. Similarly, in many spheres India like other developing countries has transition periods even up to 2005 as in the TRIPs Agreement. Overloading the WTO agenda at this point, therefore, may not be realistic. India is in constant contact with other developing countries to develop common positions on this subject. Consultations are also being held with other Ministries and industry associations to finalise a position that would yield maximum advantage to the country. |