NEW DELHI - Restrictive steps by some countries to protect their domestic markets in the wake of the global economic crisis have hurt international trade that must remain open, World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director General Pascal Lamy said Thursday.

Some countries have increased tariffs, instituted new non-tariff measures and initiated more anti-dumping actions, Lamy told a business conference organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) here.

True, none of them has triggered, so far, a tit-for-tat chain retaliation. But there is no denying the fact they have had some trade-chilling effect,” said Lamy, here at the Indian government’s invitation to put the current round of global trade talks back on track.

While I do not think we are in a situation where we need to cry wolf, we need to remain vigilant and ensure that WTO members remain open to one another.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had first raised the issue of growing protectionism among rich countries like the US during the G20 summit in London, where he had proposed India hosts a mini-ministerial meeting of the WTO — immediately accepted by assembled world leaders.

Referring to the two-day meeting, which is being attended by the representatives of some 40 out of the 153 members of the WTO here beginning Thursday, Lamy said: Delhi can be the beginning of the endgame of the Doha Development Round.

The Doha round had kicked off in the Qatari capital in 2001 but failed to make ground because of sharp differences between the rich and developing countries, mainly over agriculture subsidies, export sops and market access.

The meeting here is the first after among a large group of WTO members since the one in Geneva July last year that had collapsed because of differences over special safeguard mechanism — a provision to permit developing countries to guard against sudden surges in imports, or when commodity prices decline.

Lamy agreed with New Delhi’s point of view that the current crisis had impacted on the country’s exports, which has been contracting successively for the past 10 months since last October.

The contraction of demand has had an impact on Indian exports of textiles, garments, gems, jewellery and leather goods, all of which are labour-intensive. The crisis has also taken a toll on Indian exports of services, which represent highly-paid jobs.

Lamy said the international community cannot afford to meet the challenges that lie ahead, be it on multilateral trade, climate change, food security or on the global financial architecture, adding he still had hope.

I am often asked if I am ‘optimistic’ or ‘pessimistic’ about the future — I always reply that I am ‘activistic’.