Farm subsidy issue to dominate discussions at Cancun: WTO experts.
Kolkata, Aug 18 (PTI) The contentious issue of agricultural subsidies by the USA and European countries are expected to dominate the forthcoming WTO negotiations at ministerial level will take place in Cancun in Mexico.
FK Patrick Macrory, an internationally renowned expert on the WTO and Director of Legal Studies in International Law Institute in Washington, said a seminar, organized jointly by the Exim Bank of India and Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM) that European countries The huge subsidies to their farmers, agriculture in developing countries who have been affected.
Patrick said the USA was also the same thing, but not to a large extent that European nations.
The expert from the WTO said that the question of other export subsidies would also be pork spotlight discussions at Cancun. How farm subsidies, European nations were also doling out huge export subsidies was the deterioration of the interests of developing countries, he added.
Market access, both developed and developing countries have also proposed to discuss in Cancun strong, he observed.
On the issue of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) conditions for exports from developing countries by developed ones, Macrory said that an agreement in this regard should be achieved in Cancun to ensure that this type of non-tariff barriers in the path of world trade.
In addition to these themes, discussions would be intentional Cancun on the Singapore issues investment, competition, transparency in government procurement and trade facilitation.
The expert from the WTO said that European countries would like to see an agreement on investment, while the USA has remained quite neutral, au contraire.
The competition, he said, would be largely run on transparency and compliance of the clause of the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) to the developed countries.
On the issue of market access for industrial products, which should be taken in Cancun, to be successful, because an agreement can be reached, he said.
The environment and aspects of work, he said, would certainly be a step backwards on the seat of the next ministerial conference negotiations.