WTO circulates new proposals to save talks

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WTO, as a last ditch effort to find an agreement on Doha modalities, believed to have circulated fresh proposals all the trade ministers on agriculture and industrial products, linking flexibilities to developing countries with sectoral initiatives, which has all along been objected to by India.

"WTO Chief Pascal Lamy has circulated a draft of his proposals in agriculture and NAMA which is currently being discussed by the all the ministers in the green room," an Indian official said.

As per the proposal on sectorals, "any developing country member participating in the final sectoral initiative will be permitted to increase its coefficients commensurate with its level of participation in sectoral initiative."

India is opposing the proposals on special products and special safeguard mechanism, the official said. The US and EU are putting pressure on emerging economies such as India to scrap tariff on the automobile sector under the so-called 'zero-to-zero' or zero-for-x' sectoral initiatives.

The EU which is facing large scale industrial problems at home is seeking more tariff cuts from emerging economies.