Transcript http://www.cuts-international.org/documents/Par-fore-ppt.ppt

WTO Hong Kong Ministerial
Gains & Losses for India
Pradeep S. Mehta
CUTS International
Jaipur, India
E-mail:
[email protected]
[email protected]
Key Issues
•
•
•
•
•
Agriculture
Non-agricultural Market Access
Services
Trade Facilitation
LDCs Specific Issues
Agriculture: Key Concerns
• More than 600 million people depend
on farming for livelihood.
• A vast majority of farmers are small
and marginal, hence they are poor.
• Not a major farm exporter. Therefore,
lacks offensive interest.
• Fears trade liberalisation impact
negatively on poor farmers.
Agriculture: Market
Access
Market Access
Demands
Outcomes
• Less tariff cut for DCs • Four bands for tariff cuts
with higher thresholds
• Tariff cap to check
tariff peaks – 100% for
developed, 150% for
DCs
• No mention of tariff cap
• SPs and SSM;
elimination of existing
SSG (Art.5)
• Flex. To self-designate an
app. no. of tariff lines as SPs;
right to have recourse to SSM
Agriculture: Domestic
Support
Demands
Outcomes
• Overall reduction of
domestic support
• Overall cut in tradedistorting domestic
support
• Reduction of product and
non-product specific de
• No agreement
• Reduction in final bound
total AMS
• Will be reduced
• DCs with no AMS
entitlements exempt from
reductions
• Exemptions for DCs
minimis
Agriculture: Export
Competition
Demands
Outcomes
• Eliminate direct subsidies
by 2010
• 2010 not accepted;
agreement reached on
2013
• Other forms of export
subsidies also to be
eliminated
• Parallel elimination of all
other forms
• New disciplines on food
aid to prevent surplus
disposal
• Food aid to be
disciplined
• STEs in DCs should
receive special
consideration
• Some benefits for DCs,
LDCs and NFIDCs
Non-agricultural Market
Access
Demands
• Swiss type formula with
multiple coefficients
Outcomes
• Agreed
• Less than full reciprocity in
• Agreed
reduction commitments for DCs
• Elimination of tariff peaks,
escalation
• Agreed
• Sectoral initiatives should be
voluntary
• Agreed
Services
Demands
Outcomes
• Improved market
access under mode 1
and mode 4
• A new time-line given
for offers and requests;
plurilateral app. In
addition to bilateral
• De-link mode 4 with
comm. presence
• No firm commitment
• Removal of Economic
Needs Tests
• No firm commitment
• Operationalisation of
S&DT for DCs & LDCs
• No firm commitment
Least Developed Countries
Demands
Outcomes
• Duty and Quota free mkt. access
for all products
• Provided but
with adequate
loopholes
• Elimination of domestic support
on cotton and creation of a
“special fund”
• No firm
commitment
• Issue of preference erosion
• Mentioned in
NAMA Text
• Implementation of LDCs
modalities on services
• No significant
progress
Conclusions
• Ministerial Declaration adopted – in
itself a success
• Overall a balanced outcome for India
• Ticklish issues of modalities and
formulas for tariff cuts deferred for
future
• Poor progress on services trade
liberalisation
• No substantial gains for LDCs