India warned on Friday that the World Trade Organisation negotiations on trade in environmental goods and services would get derailed if the developed countries do not adopt a 'balanced' approach on market access.
"We believe that there is a need to have a balance in these negotiations so that environment friendly products from developing countries also get improved market access," Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Rajiv Pratap Rudy said at a seminar organised by the ministry in coordination with UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) and TERI (The Energy Research Institute).
The developed countries would have to adopt less than a 'reciprocity approach' to take on board the developing countries' interests during the negotiations, he said.
Stating that India was against the inclusion of products based on the method of production rather than the quality and characteristics of the end products, Rudy said such a principle would be violative of basic principles of 'like product' in the WTO.
Rudy said the country was specifically interested in environment friendly natural products like jute and coir, which supported the livelihood of millions of people in India as well as in other developing countries.
Previous deliberations have brought out that India may have some trade advantage in the long-term by getting these goods included in the negotiating list, he said.
Noting that the issue of export of environmental services was also very important for the country, he said India could offer these services to other developing countries.
