Doha Talks at crucial stage, fresh draft on agri likely this month

New Delhi, Apr 21 (UNI) In an attempt to conclude the Doha Round successfully, a fresh draft negotiating text on Agriculture and Non Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) is expected by the end of this month, WTO Deputy Director General said here today.

''A fresh draft modalities text on Agriculture and NAMA is expected to be put out by the end of this month or early next month,'' WTO Deputy Director General Harsha V said while speaking at a 'Roundtable On WTO Negotiations: Current State Of Play', organised by CII.

Doha negotiations are at a crucial phase, he said, adding that recent days have seen increased political will among member nations to conclude the Doha talks successfully.

He continued that there is a possible Ministerial next month once the horizontal negotiations to reduce the number of differences between Agriculture and NAMA begin.

NAMA is a greater area of concern than agriculture because of the widening gap between offensive and defensive interests of the members.

However, he added that talks are underway on addressing the main concerns while preserving the ambitions of the Doha Round.

''The development dimension needs to be reflected in the final outcome of the negotiations,'' Joint Secretary to the Commerce ad Industry Jayant Dasgupta said.

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