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Trade unions criticise govt for agreeing to WTO talks

Sumeet Chatterjee, in New Delhi

Indian labour unions on Thursday criticised the government for agreeing to the launch of a new round of trade talks under the World Trade Organisation, saying it will be a major setback to domestic industry and workers.

"Its a major setback for us. This doesn't augur well for the Indian industry and its workforce in the long run," said Amarnath Dogra of Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh, one of the country's largest trade unions.

Trade ministers from 142 countries agreed on Wednesday on a new round after a marathon six-day meeting at Doha, Qatar, aiming at liberalising global trade and boosting the economy.

Developing countries like India, which had been reluctant to agree to the new agenda, eventually gave in after the agreement brought them significant benefits, such as the easing of international patent law, which will allow them to produce drugs cheaply and export them.

New issues like environment, investment and competition will also be under discussion for the first time.

"WTO is a trade wing of rich countries and they have successfully managed to impose their interests on developing countries like India," Dogra of BMS, which is affiliated to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party, told IANS.

"As a result of this, thousands of small business units and workers would be badly hit. We have been protesting against India's agreeing to new round of trade talks and will continue to do so," he added.

Thousands of protesters paraded through the heart of the Indian capital on the day the ministerial meeting began at Doha.

Union leaders say the outcome of a new trade round will affect the price and availability of goods in shops around the country and millions of workers could lose their jobs because of market-opening moves set in motion at Doha.

"The developed countries have utilised the September 11 terror strikes and the present global economy slowdown to pressurise the developing countries to agree to a new round of trade talks," said W R Vardharajan, secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions.

"We were not opposed to India's participation in WTO. All we were saying that WTO being a trade body, non-trade issues should not be included. But non-trade issues have now also been included for new round," he added.

Vardharajan was referring to inclusion of environment as an issue that will come up for discussion in the new round of trade talks.

Developing countries, led by India, had earlier opposed the move to link environment to trade rules. Their fear has always been that Western economies could use these issues as tools to discriminate against their imports.

"Despite all the bravado, the Indian government has succumbed to the pressure of the rich countries. It has also exposed the servile attitude of the government towards developed nations," Vardharajan said.

D L Sachdeva, secretary of All India Trade Union Congress, said New Delhi had successfully managed to elicit support from other developing nations including Pakistan on key issues but it "diluted its position on Western pressures."

"It's really not a very happy situation for us. After building so much pressure, they shouldn't have forsaken their position in such a manner," he said.

Dogra of BMS, however, urged the government to evolve a common strategy in consultation with Indian industry and labour ahead of the new round of talks.

"It was clear from the very beginning that we have to give and to take something. But now we have to ensure that we don't lose out to other developing nations in trade negotiations ahead," he said.

The World Bank has calculated that launching a new cycle of market-opening talks, coupled with related reforms, could add a whopping $2.8 trillion to global income by 2015, a decade after the round is expected to end.

Indo-Asian News Service

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