21.   He also argued that developing countries should be included, but chosen on objective criteria and not arbitrarily.

22.   India has put forward a list of objective criteria for membership based on population size, adherence to democratic principles and contributions to UN operations.

23.   A Japanese official denied the request was meant to push for objective criteria.

24.   The official said there was no disagreement with Japan on the principle of objective criteria, but they had yet to agree on exactly what the criteria would be.

25.   The two sides also discussed the thorny issue of objective criteria to measure progress in opening the Japanese market.

26.   US statements issued after the deal was announced stressed that objective criteria for assessment of market access had been established.