Indian Official Warns Against Mixing Climate, Trade
A senior Indian trade official on Thursday warned there was a growing trend for countries to use unreasonable environmental and health standards as a covert form of protectionism, blocking trade already hit by global slowdown
Matthias Williams | PlanetArk | Reuters | 19-Feb-10
Trade Secretary Rahul Khullar said countries were using anything from proposed cap and trade schemes to the level of toxins found in Indian shrimps to bring standards on goods into the World Trade Organization without proper international debate.
The statement from a key trade official in India, a country that plays a major role in WTO negotiations, underscores worries in the emerging Asian giant that many developed nations are erecting increasing barriers to fair trade.
"Environmental issues are being brought onto an international agenda, and there are serious moves to bring it through the back door into the WTO," Khullar told reporters.
"I will abide by international standards on selling you safe products, but you can't keep raising your standards, almost at whim, to prevent me from accessing your market."
India has long complained that standards or complicated procedures to obtain trade permits have been imposed by partners to protect their domestic markets.
But just as nations have struggled to piece together a global climate change deal to share the burden on emissions cuts, countries such as EU member states have mulled how closely to attach environmental disputes to commercial ties.
Manufacturers in the European Union, for example, fear the 27-nation bloc's pledges to cut carbon emissions will raise costs and make their goods less competitive compared to India and China.
PROTECTING DOMESTIC INDUSTRY
Khullar said developed countries were tempted to use measures other than tariffs to protect their industry, especially because emerging nations like India were taking a greater slice of global trade and most rich nations suffered more in the slowdown.
"Is any particular country misusing an SPS (health) measure to block my exports? My answer is 'yes'," he said, while declining to single out individual states.
Khullar spoke at the release of a book by India's Center for WTO studies on the link between trade and environmental issues.
He said the book did not represent government policy, but was a "pre-emptive strike" against letting trade abuses spill over into other issues such as labor or intellectual property rights.
"It's becoming an issue of friction between trading partners," Khullar said.
Khullar said the desire by countries to impose environmental and health standards were a growing problem, but one which would not cloud the slow-moving Doha global trade talks.
"It doesn't look rosy, but don't give up hopes yet," he said, in response to the question as to whether the talks could be concluded by the stated target of 2010.
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