Search Result for : Wto Director General

The Dollar Business Bureau Representatives of industry, including technology and online retail companies in India, on Wednesday discussed matters related to e-commerce and global trade with Roberto Azevedo, Director General of World Trade Organisation (WTO). The roundtable meeting, held in New Delhi, was organised by the industry representative body International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and attended by Sunil Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Enterprises and representatives of various companies such as Google, Paytm and Snapdeal. The issues discussed related to setting up standards for e-commerce industry, challenges pertaining to businesses dealings due to differences in national or regional norms, facilitating services trade and future of the world trading system. The meeting holds significance as developed member countries are pushing the trade body to initiate negotiations on an agreement on e-commerce in the ...

PTI Trade ministers from nearly 20 countries, including India and the US, are expected to converge in Oslo later this month to deliberate on the road ahead, including the post-Nairobi programme, for WTO. “It will be a kind of WTO mini-ministerial meeting. About 20-22 trade ministers may attend the meeting. Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to participate, besides WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo and others,” an official said. The meeting assumes significance as India has recently floated a concept note pitching for a trade facilitation agreement (TFA) in services. The official said issues like implementation of the TFA in goods and work programme for the post-Nairobi meet may be discussed. TFA in goods will come into force once two-thirds of members ...

The Dollar Business Bureau    The process of agricultural trade reform started during the WTO conference at Doha in 2001 will be in jeopardy if members try to shift focus on new issues, Indian Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at the 10th ministerial conference of the global body in Nairobi. “The reform process which was started after the Uruguay Round in the form of the Doha Round appears to be in jeopardy. Negotiations have spilled over into Nairobi, which makes matters very complicated. The manner and haste with which important negotiating meetings are being convened does not inspire confidence,” Sitharaman said. Negotiations on reducing export subsidies, domestic support and import duties on agricultural products were part of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA). ...

 The Dollar Business Bureau | @TheDollarBiz   Roberto Azevêdo, Director-General, the World Trade Organisation (WTO), said in Mexico this week that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the world stand to gain from a multilateral trading system and blocking the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) will hurt the interests of small businesses. Roberto Azevêdo said, “By locking-in countries’ obligations on trade practices, the WTO safeguards important business interests and increases the stability businesses need to flourish.” He added that implementation of TFA would go a long way to help SMEs to tackle red tape and penetrate more foreign markets. TFA was considered as a major breakthrough since the inception of WTO. However, the agreement could not be ratified by the ...

The Dollar Business Bureau | @TheDollarBiz   The Indian government says that it did not support the ratification of Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) by the July 31, 2014 deadline due to the apprehension that concerns over food security would be brushed aside by developed countries if a permanent solution on food subsidies is not found first. India’s Minister of Commerce Nirmala Sitharaman told the Parliament today, “Seeing the resistance to taking forward the other Decisions [agreed at the Bali conference], the apprehension of developing countries was that once the process of bringing the Trade Facilitation Agreement into force was completed, other issues would be ignored, including the important issue of a permanent solution on subsidies on account of public stockholding for ...

 Bidhu Bhushan Palo | @TheDollarBiz This is not just another delay; this will have consequences, said WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo. Pic copyright: WTO   The World Trade Organization (WTO) has failed to ratify the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) that was finalized at the 9th WTO Ministerial Conference at Bali in December 2013 mainly due to India’s reluctance to allow consensus on TFA before negotiating a permanent solution on food subsidies. TFA was hailed as the first major agreement among WTO members since its inception in 1995. The legally binding agreement promises to reform global trade and aims to cut red tape; make trade easier, faster and cheaper; and simplify customs procedures among 160 WTO members. The agreement would also help landlocked countries ...