WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/MIN(01)/ST/10
10 November 2001
(01-5602)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Fourth Session
Doha, 9 - 13 November 2001Original:  English
INDIA
Statement by the Honourable Murasoli Maran
Minister of Commerce and Industry
1. I thank you, Mr Chairman, and your Government for hosting this 4th Ministerial Conference
and for the excellent arrangements and hospitality.
2. I also welcome the delegations of the Peoples Republic of China and Chinese Taipei in our
midst.  India has consistently supported the accession of China to WTO and we are happy to see it
realized, bringing greater universality to our organization.
3. I am constrained to point out that the draft Ministerial Declaration is neither fair nor just to
the view points of many developing countries including my own on certain key issues.  It is negation
of all that was said by a significant number of developing countries and least-developing countries.We cannot escape the conclusion that it accommodates some view points while ignoring "others".
The forwarding letter most surprisingly and shoc kingly also does not dwell on the substantive
differences and focuses more on what are individual assessments.  Even after these were reiterated in
the strongest possible terms in the General Council on 31
 October and 1 November, we recognize that
there is a refusal to reflect these points in a substantive manner even in the forwarding letter.  The
only conclusion that could be drawn is that the developing countries have little say in the agenda
setting of the WTO.  It appears that the whole process was a mere formality and we are being coercedagainst our will.  Is it not then meaningless for the draft declaration to claim that the needs and
interests of the developing countries have been placed at the heart of the Work Programme?
4. After the setback at Seattle, all of us want Doha to be a success.  Success, however, does not
necessarily require over-reaching objectives or launch of a "comprehensive" round.  Also the global
unity achieved in the wake of the most unfortunate and tragic event of September 11 should not beundermined by proposing an agenda, which would split the WTO membership.  Rather than charting a
divisive course in unknown waters, let this Conference provide a strong impetus to the on-going
negotiations on agriculture and services, and the various mandated reviews that by themselves form a
substantial work programme and have explicit consensus.
5. We cannot be held hostage to unreasonable demands that concessions be made for carrying
forward what are already mandated negotiations.  Nor can one accept the argument that there is
mandate only for commencing certain negotiations and not for completing them.  Progressive reform
in agriculture now requires elimination of the large-scale domestic support and other trade distorting
subsidies and the removal of all unfair barriers facing farm exports of developing countries.  At the
same time, considering the critical dependence on agriculture by large rural populations in developingcountries, we need to adequately provide for their food and livelihood security and for promoting
rural development.  Similarly, in services, facilitating the movement of professionals, must receive
priority attention.WT/MIN(01)/ST/10
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6. WTO has to recognize the existing development deficit in various WTO agreements and take
necessary remedial action.  WTO has also to recognize that development strategy has to be related to
country specific situations.  The "one size fits all approach" has clearly failed to deliver.
7. The asymmetries and imbalances in the Uruguay Round agreements, non-realization of
anticipated benefits and non-operational and non-binding nature of special and differential provisionshave been the basis for implementational issues and concerns raised by a large number of developing
countries right from 1998.  Expectations rose when the May 2000 decision was adopted by the
General Council to find meaningful solutions at the latest by the Fourth Ministerial.  The draft
decision on implementation related issues and concerns before us have addressed some issues but left
many more unresolved.  Even among those addressed, the manner of resolution has left many gaps.
We must make sincere efforts at this Conference to resolve the outstanding issues or give clear
directions on how to deal with them.  Notwithstand ing our disappointment, we have already indicated
in Geneva that we are prepared to join a consensus in favour of adopting the decision proposed as a
package.  It would be appropriate to take this item first in the Business Session and adopt the decision.
8. In relation to market access, even after all the Uruguay Round concessions have been
implemented by industrialized countries, significant trade barriers in the form of tariff peaks and tariff
escalation continue to affect many developing country exports.  These will clearly need to be squarelyaddressed.  Meanwhile, sensitive industries in developing countries including small scale industries
sustaining a large labour force cannot be allowed to be destroyed.
9. New issues or new agreements will obviously extract new prices and developing countries are
hardly prepared for the same.  This becomes pa rticularly relevant now since negotiations for
agreements on several new areas are being proposed even while the study process is on.  In the areasof Investment, Competition, Trade Facilitation or Transparency in Government Procurement, basic
questions remain even on the need for a multilateral agreement.  Most importantly, do the developing
countries have the capacity to deal with them?  Will we be able to say that they do not impinge
strongly on domestic policies that are well removed from trade?  Are the basic trade principles like
non-discrimination or market access appropriate for dealing with issues like Investment and
Competition?  Would the Marrakesh remit for WTO which talks only of multilateral trade relations
permit these other issues to be covered?  We are very doubtful if we can give affirmative replies to all
these questions.  It is our considered view that we need to carefully study them further before rushing
to decisions.  In any case, the Singapore Declaration requires an explicit consensus for any decision to
move to negotiations.  Let us therefore wait till an explicit consensus emerges on these issues.
10. We firmly oppose any linkage between trade and labour standards.  The Singapore
Declaration had once and for all dealt with this issue and there is no need to refer to it again.Similarly, on environment we are strongly opposed to the use of environmental measures for
protectionist purposes and to imposition of unilateral trade restrictive measures.  We are convinced
that the existing WTO rules are adequate to deal with all legitimate environmental concerns.  We
should firmly resist negotiations in this area which are not desirable, now or later.  We consider them
as Trojan horses of protectionism.
11. The Uruguay Round Agreement on TRIPS has in vited strong reactions from developing
country stakeholders.  It is important that negotiations are held for extending geographical indications
to products other than wines and spirits which are important to many countries.  There should also be
no misappropriation of the biological and genetic resources and traditional knowledge of the
developing countries.
12. Availability and affordability of essential medicines is a universal human right.  WTO should
not deny that right.  This Conference must send ou t a clear message to the world that nothing in the
TRIPS Agreement shall prevent governments from taking measures to protect public health.WT/MIN(01)/ST/10
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Accordingly, the TRIPS Agreement must be interpreted and implemented in a manner supportive of
WTO Members' right to protect public health and ensure access to medicines for all.
13. In conclusion, we are of the view that the issues which are not yet ripe must remain with the
working groups for further study.  India, including many other developing countries, are not ready to
accept a new set of onerous commitments.  The road map already charted by the Uruguay RoundAgreements should be the future work programme and this crucial Ministerial Conference should
provide negotiating mandate for resolving outstanding implementation issues and clear guidance on
mandated negotiations and reviews.  WTO is for multilateral trading system only.  It should not
encompass the responsibility for rule making of non-trade-related  subjects.  Globalization and
liberalization have to be addressed at various fora and not in WTO alone.  WTO is not a global
government and should not attempt to appropriate to itself what legitimately falls in the domain of
national governments and Parliaments.  WTO's core competence is in international trade and wewould strongly urge that it stays that way.  Then only we can save and strengthen the multilateral
trading system.
14. Mr Chairman, I am confident that you in your capacity as the Chairman of this Ministerial
Conference is fully aware of the expectation, aspirations and concerns of developing countries on all
the issues.  I am absolutely sure that your experi ence, wisdom and commitment will enable all of us to
find collective solutions to difficult issues in such a way that the final declaration really keeps the
needs and interests of developing countries as the central theme of all future WTO activities.
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