India refuses farm compromise for trade deal

India will not compromise on market access for farm products to seal a global trade deal, its trade minister said on Friday, as he cautioned the West not to attempt to drive a wedge between developing nations.
"We will not compromise on the livelihoods of farmers," Kamal Nath told reporters after returning from the latest round of failed talks in Potsdam, Germany, between the Group of Four (G4) powers the United States, European Union, India and Brazil.
"There cannot be a trade-off between livelihoods and prosperity." Hopes of salvaging this year the World Trade Organisation's so-called Doha round after nearly six years of frustrated negotiations have dimmed after the talks collapsed on Thursday.
Brazil and India, the main negotiators for developing countries, said the United States and EU were demanding too high a price for cutting their trade distorting farm policies. The United States and EU said Brazil and India refused to offer significant new market openings in manufacturing.
The trade minister said the developing countries could not accept the demand of developed nations for additional market access without any effective reductions in their farm subsidies.
"Agreeing to this would not only have been against the mandate of the Doha development round," Nath said. "It would have seriously jeopardised the livelihoods of the farmers of the developing and least developed countries and threatened the food security of many poorer nations." A senior Indian trade official, who did not wish to be identified, said wrapping up the Doha round by the year end would prove very difficult.
"It needs a miracle," the official said. Launched in the Qatari capital in late 2001, the round aims to lift millions out of poverty through more trade. But it has faced problems from the start, mainly over agriculture, which is a highly sensitive political issue almost everywhere. Nath on Friday cautioned the EU and United States not to try to divide developing countries in attempts to push talks forward.
He said India was a firm believer in a rule-based multilateral trading system, and would work with developing and developed countries for a successful conclusion to Doha. "Chances are good provided developed countries recognise that distortion is not fair trade," Nath said when asked whether a year-end deadline could still be met.
"I am an optimist but I am also a realist." Nath said it was the end of the road for the G4 talks as there was no convergence, and future negotiations would have to take place in a broader form in Geneva.