Clinton's speech to the trade ministers of 135 World Trade Organisation member countries here was a highly political one, with an eye fixed firmly on vice-president Al Gore's prospects in the US presidential elections next year. The US president made a strong pitch for a link between trade on the one hand and core labour and environment standards on the other in a clear attempt to give a boost to Gore's campaign.

Gore is best known for his support for environmental conservation, and labour standards would go down well with the labour unions that form a significant constituency for the Democratic party in America. Also pandering to theopposition to the WTO by a section of the American public, Clinton alled for greater transparency and accountability for the WTO.

Promising to put his money where his mouth was, Clinton made sympathetic declarations on behalf of developing countries that should have warmed their hearts. He said he understood these countries fears that labour and environment standards would be used against them for protectionist purposes, and offered to allay their fears by promises of transfer of technology and assistance for clean technologies that would make environment standards palatable to them.

On labour standards likewise, he said fears about protectionism should not mean that these issues should not be written into WTO rules. Rather, he said, developing countries should make sure that the rules were written in a way that they could not be abused by rich countries. If indications were already available that the US and the EU are making a major public relations effort to woo both developing countries and theirown public opinion against globalisation, flesh was put on the skeleton of these ideas today.

In a further effort at proving to the developing world that the rich West cares about their economic plight, United States Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky today announced to the media America's and the 15-countryEU's agreement to promote an initiative for 48 so-called least-developed countries (LDCs).

Under this deal, upto three-fourths of these countries exports would be imported duty-free by the EU and the US. Barshefsky added that the EU and the US would try to get the other so-called Quad (four prominent membe ) members of the WTO, Canada and Japan, to agree to offer similar benefits to these countries. She further added that the US also hoped to persuade more advanced developing countries to offer similar benefits to the LDCs.

Indian officials however later strongly refuted any such suggestion and said that such an initiative must rest with developed countries. Even within the US-EU initiative,the devil as ever lies in the details. Barshefsky attempted to side-step a question on whether zero-tariff access would be provided to the LDCs' textiles and apparels exports as well.

She said the zero tariffs would not extend to all products. Also, she hinted that the system would be based on the existing so-called generalised system of prefernces for these countries, which does not exempt textiles, apparels and footwear exports from these countries. That would mean that several do not benefit at all for whom these products comprise the bulk of their exports. In another similar sop, Barshefsky said that the application of US laws against intelectual property infringements would be eased if a violation of such laws was found.