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Schroeder wants WTO meet to consider environment, social clauses

P Jayaram, in New Delhi

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder caused a flutter on the first day of his three-day official visit to India by calling for inclusion of social and environmental clauses in the Doha Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade Organisation, which New Delhi opposes.

"We must widen the negotiations in Doha to include the social dimensions and environment," Schroeder, the first German head of government to visit India since 1993, said in an address to a seminar on 'Indo-German economic relations: Looking ahead'.

The seminar was organised by the country's main apex business bodies - Confederation of Indian Industry and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

The Indian government and business see the move by the West to include the controversial issues of human rights and environment as an attempt to create artificial trade barriers and to diminish the competitiveness of developing countries in the international market.

When asked whether the WTO meet in Doha in November should first address the question of non-implementation of the decisions of the Uruguay round of talks, Schroeder's, response was: "You should not take the stand that we wait until these decisions are implemented.

This does not mean that we do not discuss non-implementation. I very much hope India will raise its voice, because it is heard, and I hope India will take a constructive attitude in Doha."

In his address, Schroeder said free trade should reflect the political atmosphere and international order and address issues like human rights and protection of environment, adding that the Doha negotiations provided a tangible opportunity for reorganising world trade.

"We all benefit from a just exchange. We can't see it as a clash of civilizations. It is an exchange that would lead to free and equitable trade," he said.

He acknowledged that developing countries saw the moves to include social and environmental clauses in the WTO as an attempt to restrict their access to markets in the developed world and said Germany would continue to "energetically counteract such tendencies."

Germany would strive for substantial reduction of trade barriers in the developed world to ensure market access to developing countries, he said.

Apart from WTO, Schroeder's address emphasised on the need for international solidarity in the fight against terrorism. He indicated this would be one of the main issues he would discuss with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and other Indian leaders.

He called for full commitment by all countries in the fight and said the September 11 strikes on the World Trade Centre in New York was an attack not only on the US financial system but one directed at the world's free economy and trade.

"We have a vested interest to ensure that terrorism must not prevail. It must not win against international economic co-operation, he added.

CII president Sanjiv Goenka asked Schroeder not to look at India as a cheap source of labour and resources, which could be provided by Germany's neighbours in the east, and instead to look to this country for skill, knowledge and competitiveness.

FICCI president Chirayu Amin sought Germany's support in securing for India 'Associate status' in the European Union and said: "This would give the right stimulus to our economic relations."

Indo-Asian News Service

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