India insists on food security solution as WTO meet begins
BUENOSAIRES: India, at the head of a large bloc of developing nations, insisted that a gathering of the world’s trade ministers that opened in Buenos Aires on Sunday find a permanent solution on public stockholding for food security but showed flexibility on a work programme for services.
In the coming days, trade minister Suresh Prabhu, who is leading a multi-ministry delegation to the 11th ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization (MC11), will also focus on protecting the interests of India’s artisanal fishermen from a proposal to eliminate fisheries subsidies.
India is also likely to resist any attempt by developed countries to push for negotiations on setting global rules on e-commerce, holding that domestic rules on the matter are in a flux.
The meeting in the Argentinian capital follows two other “ministerials”, where India played hardball on the matter of public procurement for subsidised food distribution programme—India’s is the largest in the world—against developed countries that want penalties for countries that exceed a ceiling.
In 2013, the Bali ministerial in 2013 brought mixed results for India—a “peace clause” on public stockholding for food security purposes offered temporary reprieve from being challenged at the WTO for violations of public procurement ceilings.
But the Nairobi WTO ministerial in 2015 was considered a set- back as in their joint declaration, ministers for the first time recognised the divergence between developed and developing countries on pushing on with the Doha Development Agenda, which came against India’s wishes.
The decision was considered by trade experts as one more nail in the coffin of the languishing Doha trade deal that is positioned to help developing and least developed countries export more to developed countries and to ensure that they benefit from world trade rules.
Indian trade officials speaking on condition of anonymity said India is open to WTO finalising a work programme on services that includes parts of its earlier proposal of trade facilitation in services (TFS). India had aborted its plan to push for TFS in MC11 as its traditional African allies were opposed to it. While developed countries want to negotiate domestic regulations in services, India says some parts of the TFS such as the movement of professionals and qualification requirements for procedures, that the African group is not opposed to, can be included in a work programme. Issues like visa fees, which are redlines for the US, could be excluded, India argues.
On the proposal to eliminate fisheries subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, India is open to an agreement at Buenos Aires if the principle of “special and differential treatment” is protected, allowing developing countries a longer stretch of time for compliance—with protection for small and marginal fishermen.
However, given the reluctance of the US under Donald Trump to constructively engage at the multilateral trade forum and its obstruction in appointing judges to the appellate body under WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism, most countries have lowered their expectations of the December 10-13 meeting yielding any significant outcomes.
The writer is at Buenos Aires at the invite of India’s commerce ministry to cover MC11.