Non agricultural market access

Since the inception of General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT) in 1947, a major focus in GATT and thereafter in WTO has been to reduce and bind customs duties on industrial goods. This creates greater certainty and predictability for international trade, as a country cannot ordinarily impose duties higher than its binding commitment, called 'bound tariffs'. In the ongoing Doha round, modalities for reduction of customs duties on industrial goods is a crucial issue and is more popularly known as negotiations on Non Agricultural Market Access (NAMA). Reduction of customs duties is being negotiated by application of a formula, called the Swiss Formula. For a balanced outcome, the Doha mandate stipulates that developing countries would need to be accorded less than full reciprocity obligation and expect the same to be reflected in the coefficients of the tariff reduction formula to be applied.