Industrial products from developing countries like India will get greater market access as a result of the Ministerial Declaration adopted at the Sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) held in Hong Kong, as it provides for reduction and elimination of tariff peaks and tariff escalations, in particular on industrial products of export interest to developing countries.
Shri Kamal Nath, Minister of Commerce and Industry, led the Indian delegation to the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference which was held from December 13-18, 2005.
As indicated by Dr. Amit Mitra, Secretary General, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) “perhaps the biggest gains from Hong Kong came from reduction and elimination of tariff peaks and tariff escalations, prevailing in developed countries, against our industrial products.”
“Though the average import duty in developed countries is supposedly 3%, the peak duty on specific items such as ready-made garments is to the tune of 30 percent. Similarly, tariff escalations duty on value-added leather bags as against raw leather reach levels of 20 percent in the US. Another gain was in the realm of flexibility which would let the Indian business have selected items exempt from import duty reduction altogether”.
In agriculture, interests of farmers have been fully protected as the Declaration clearly provides that developing countries will be able to self-designate an appropriate number of tariff lines as Special Products (which are subject to nil or marginal tariff reductions) based on the criteria of food security, livelihood security and rural development.
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