Director General of World Trade Organisation (WTO) Pascal Lamy has said it is important to further understand the global trade and recognise changing global trade polices and patterns in wake of talks to lower international trade barriers amid growing challenges.
Lamy said this while addressing a meeting hosted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in New Delhi on Tuesday.
He said that with increasing trade between countries, changing trade policies have to be understood differently.
“In a world where more than 50 percent of your exports depends on your imports, trade policy, trade patterns have a totally different bearing, meaning than in the past, this needs to be reflected in the way we articulate a global trade opening agenda,” said Lamy.
He also pointed out the rising obstacles to international trade.
“A variety of new regulatory prescriptions are influencing the way trade happens and to put it very simply as these regulatory components of consumption of products raises in many countries, the discrepancies between these regulatory approaches is a new obstacle to trade and that is something which we undoubtedly need to take into account and which in many ways is a different approach we had for tariffs,” added Lamy.
Currently on a visit to New Delhi, he said that it would be cumbersome to conclude the Doha Development Round (DDA) for trade negotiation as a single package.
He observed that the efficiency of international trade now also depends on the administrative thickness of borders, which is a key area of concern.
Further he said issues like fortifying world trade and setting up policies to do the same is another key area of concern.
Lamy who would step down from his post in August 2013 also attributed the reason for global economic crisis to lack of regulation in the financial sector.
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