New WTO texts good basis for talks: Kamal Nath

Union Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said on Friday that new WTO compromise proposals provide a good basis for starting intensive negotiations on a global trade pact.

New Delhi, July 20 : Union Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said on Friday that new WTO compromise proposals provide a good basis for starting intensive negotiations on a global trade pact.

"Well, I just had a talk with Pascal Lamy and I Think this is a text which is not a text of convergence, but this is a text which leads to intensive negotiations. We hope that in September negotiations start," Nath told reporters on the sidelines of a conference.

"It is a package... at least; now, there are certain parameters, so we can move forward," Nath added.

In an attempt to break the deadlock, diplomats chairing the WTO negotiations floated detailed compromise texts on Tuesday, spelling out ranges of cuts for farm subsidies and a formula for import tariff cuts on agricultural and industrial goods.

Doha was launched shortly after the 9/11 attacks on the United States in 2001 in a bid to shore up confidence in the world economy, but it has been mired in problems and risks being put on hold for several years if a deal is not reached soon.

Developing countries like India and Brazil are seeking both to bring down rich nations' barriers to their farm products and a scaling back of what they call trade-distorting subsidies to farmers in Europe and the United States.

But they are concerned about opening their markets up too much to imports of industrial goods from developed nations.

Negotiators are due to convene in Geneva next week and then recess until September.

ANI