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WTO’s aid for trade provision ineffective

WTO’s aid for trade provision ineffective(Kathmandu Post,Nov 24,2011)

There has been no effective implementation of the aid for trade provision in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) under which the developed countries have pledged to support the least developed countries (LDCs) to enhance their trade capacity, experts said on Monday.

"Its amount is small, but has a long procedural mechanism," said Badri Pokharel, joint secretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies overseeing the WTO department. "We will seek its simplification at the upcoming seventh WTO ministerial meeting," he said at an interaction on Nepal's priorities organised by the ministry and South Asia Watch on Trade, Economic and Environment (SAWTEE).
Experts said that aid for trade had been available mostly in the software side instead of hardware ones which Nepal needs desperately. It is mostly related to conducting research, and such aid has not come for the infrastructure sector, they said.
It is one of the agendas of Nepal in the WTO in addition to duty- and quota-free access to Nepali products in the developed countries. "We will make a common voice in partnership with other LDCs that we should be given duty-free and quota-free access," said Pokharel.
Kush Kumar Joshi, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) stressed the need for enhancing internal strength to capitalise on the concession given by WTO as a LDC. "The lack of advanced equipment has hindered Nepal's attempts to exports the agro products to developed countries," he said.
Ratnakar Adhikari, general secretary of SAWTEE  said that Nepal should raise the issue of bio-piracy without prior consent of the communities on which they are dependent. "We should press for a disclosure requirement from where products were sourced for benefit sharing of patents," he said.
He also highlighted the need for effective and tactful negotiating skills on the part of Nepali negotiators. "We should collaborate with the LDCs and landlocked LDCs on common concerns; but we should not jump into negotiating unilaterally for seeing benefit in certain areas," he cautioned.

 

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