New Delhi which is giving the finishing touches to its strategy for WTO ministerial meeting at Seattle this month end said multilateral trade should act as an `engine of growth' but not as a hindrance and hence trade measures taken for environmental purposes were not compatible with WTO.

Official sources said that developed countries increasingly sought better accommodation of environmental measures in trade units and this was evident by WTO's appellate body decisions on 1996 clean air case and shrimp-turtle case which had expanded trade measures to conserve exhaustible natural resources.

The sources said India right from time immemorial believed and worshipped nature and hence ecological balance and environment conservation were close to the heart, more so with the people of India rather than western countries.

But what India opposed `tooth and nail' was the attempt of the United States to stunt growth of developing countries by practicing new protectionism under the garb of environmental protection, the sources said and likened this attitude to that of a football referee which has started showing `green' card to play foul with developing countries. The 1996 Singapore ministerial declaration of WTO had rejected the use of labour standards for protectionist purposes, and agreed that the comparative advantage of countries, particularly low-wage developing countries must in no way be put into question.

It also noted that the WTO and ILO secretariats would continue their existing collaboration, the sources said pointing out that despite this, United States was keen on pressing for a working group on core labour standards at Seattle which made its intentions suspicious.

In fact India's commitment to international labour standards were well-known and it compared very well with some of the developing countries who claimed to be champions on this issue.

Reeling out statistics, the sources said there have been 182 ILO conventions, of which 19 were on child labour.

India has ratified seven out of 19 conventions on child labour, while Germany has ratified only three and denounced two and United States had a very poor record of ratifying only one convention, they pointed.

The government is also in the process of formulating a comprehensive law on child labour besides taking steps to ban child labour in hazardous industries. There were several other labour laws in the country providing for minimum wages for skilled and unskilled labour, the Factories Act and the like.

But any linkage of labour standards to trade would only lead to its misuse to deny market access to developing countries engaged in the process of development to fight the scourge of poverty. The ministerial declaration of the Seattle meeting now being drafted is expected to reject totally the use of any protectionist measures and maintain the effectiveness of the rule-based trading system, the sources said.

Also the Seattle Declaration is expected to state in unequivocal terms the collective commitment of 134 WTO member countries to advance the trading system as a continuing force for growth, employment, development and stability for the benefit of all members.

The 1994 Marrakesh Agreement that led to the establishment of World Trade Organisation recognises that the relations of members in trade and economic endeavour should be conducted to raise living standards, ensure full employment and allow optimal use of world's resources for sustainable development.

It is in this context, the sources said that there was a need to take a balanced view and without responding to the needs of the developing countries it would not be possible to fulfil the WTO objective of sustainable development.

The United States is expected to insist on an environmental review at Seattle and the right of WTO members to take measures to meet environmental standards higher than the international ones.

Critical of this US attitude, the sources said the commerce and industry minister Murasoli Maran was justified in accusing rich countries of `eco-imperialism' in an attempt to dilute the focus from the real issues of concern for global trade.