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India fails to push through food security solution at WTO

A Damocles sword will now hang over India and other countries, experts say

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In what could be termed as a major loss for India at the 11th edition of ministerial conference (MC11) of World Trade Organisation (WTO) at Buenos Aires in Argentina, the issue of food security that was being aggressively pushed by India and China defied consensus even as the four-day multi-lateral trade event came to a close on Wednesday.

At the MC11 of WTO, India was expecting a permanent solution to the interim clause on food security that had been accepted during the Bali conference in 2013.

The temporary solution arrived at Bali conference allowed developing countries like India, China and others to breach the food subsidy ceiling of 10% of the value of production on the reference price of 1986-88. It was decided that a permanent solution would be worked out by 2017 through consensus among the WTO member countries.

However, at the MC11 that ended on Wednesday, the US refused to engage in negotiations on food security issue, questioning the special and differential treatment to countries with high GDP and declined to give its nod to the permanent solution on the issue.

Without naming any country, the US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer is reported to have said that some "rich countries" were claiming "developing country status". Many believe Lighthizer was hinting at India and China, whose GDP growth is over 5%.

With no permanent solution on the food security issue in the Buenos Aires conference, expert say a "Damocles sword" will now hang over India and other countries.

"If nothing moves ahead the Damocles sword will hang over India, because what we have is a temporary solution, which was worked out in 2013 in Bali. The permanent solution was expected by 2017," said Devinder Sharma, an agriculture expert.

He said India should be given a preferential treatment as it has "millions of poor farmers" and was the "superpower of hunger"

"So, we need special provision for India and other developing countries," said Sharma in support of permanent solution for the food security issue.

Sharma said India should have bargained hard for it during the Bali WTO conference in 2013 instead of relying on "international goodwill".

"India has to blame itself (for not being able to get consensus on the food security issue). It (India) should have put its foot down while approving the Bali Package in July 2014. It kept quiet then. It should have said that first take up the issue of food security to make it a permanent solution, only then (it should have) approved the (Bali) package. If it had done that, India would have been in a dominant position to negotiate the food security issue. Today, nobody cares as they have got what they wanted," said the agriculture expert, who has been closely tracking the WTO developments.

The Bali Package was developed to bring down global trade barriers and was signed by all WTO member countries.

On Wednesday, after it seemed that the negotiations on the food security were collapsing, India was very vocal in expressing its views with commerce minister Suresh Prabhu saying; "We cannot envisage any negotiated outcome at MC11, which does not include a permanent solution".

J S Deepak, WTO's Indian Ambassador, also made a case for a permanent solution to the food security.

"India has emphasised that permanent solution was a must have and should be an improvement over the Peace Clause (agreed at Bali)… If not delivered, it would affect the credibility of WTO," he told a leading news agency.

SOLUTION NEEDED

  • A Damocles sword will now hang over India and other countries, experts say
     
  • India should be given preferential treatment as it has many poor farmers
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