 "India negotiated hard for developing nations at WTO: Sitharaman tells Parliament")
Sitharaman is expected to address these issues at a press briefing on Wednesday as it was postponed on Tuesday due to a Cabinet meeting.
Core demands raised by the developing bloc, like an unanimous reaffirmation of the commitment to the Doha Development Agenda, have not materialised at Nairobi. Trade experts have called for serious introspection as to what went wrong.
More From This Section
Adopted in 2001, the DDA had promised developing nations trade benefits in the form of lower tariffs and greater equity in trade. Developed countries led by the United States have suggested discontinuing or diluting the DDA due to slow progress and need for introducing newer issues such as market access for deliberations.
Sitharaman said the ministerial declaration at Nairobi acknowledged wide difference of opinion over the DDA but noted strong commitment of all members to advance negotiations on the remaining Doha issues.
However, this might not materialise as progress because current procedures at the WTO mandate any new resolution must garner the unanimous support of all member countries before being adopted. A senior commerce ministry official had said, “There’s no reason to expect sudden changes in WTO policy now that the fight has again been transferred back to Geneva.”
While India has succeeded in preventing the DDA from being killed, in reality it has been put on the back burner. Sitharaman had tweeted after the closing ceremony at Nairobi that she was ‘utterly disappointed’ at the outcome with regards to Doha issues.
“The lack of consensus among WTO members effectively ends the DDA.” said JNU Professor Dinesh Abrol, convener of the National Working Group on Patent Laws. He argued the government had failed in exercising its legal rights by agreeing to a ministerial declaration which it could have abstained from, thus preventing the skewed declaration from being adopted.
Developed nations have bargained for substantial reduction in farm subsidies by developing countries as a bargaining chip in DDA discussions, Sitharaman informed Parliament. This includes India’s minimum support price programme, paid to farmers in distress.
However, developed countries have refused to bring up the subject of domestic subsidies they offer to farmers which are often in the range of 80-90 per cent of production costs.
On the demand for a Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM) for agricultural products, demanded by a large number of developing countries, Sitharaman said India’s negotiations had led to the WTO recognising developing countries’ right to have recourse to an SSM.
However, the recognition does not guarantee an SSM, which helps countries to raise tariffs in case of a sudden surge in imports or a dip in global commodity prices. Creation of SSM is still subject to future negotiations.
"Members will continue to negotiate the mechanism in dedicated sessions of the Committee on Agriculture. The WTO General Council has been mandated to regularly review progress of these negotiations," the minister said.
On the critical issue of public stockholding for food security, Sitharaman said the ministerial decision had reaffirmed to finding a permanent solution. This again is based on future negotiations with no fixed deadline, with the 2017 deadline set earlier at Bali ignored.
India had pushed for a speedy solution to the issue.
Sitharaman said all countries agreed to the elimination of agricultural export subsidies subject to the preservation of special and differential treatment for developing countries such as a longer phaseout period for transportation and marketing export subsidies.
However, the 2023 deadline agreed to by India is an earlier date than had been decided during the Bali ministerial.
“Completely eliminating export subsidies by 2023 will further aggravate the crisis in the sugar sector," said JNU Professor Biswajit Dhar. He added while developed countries had also committed to reduction, they had stayed silent on the more trade-distorting issue of domestic subsidies.
Sitharaman pointed to the decision extending the relevant provision to prevent 'ever-greening' of patents in the pharmaceuticals sector to ensure accessibility and affordability of generic medicines. "The decision would help immensely in maintaining affordable as well as accessible supply of generic medicines," she said.
India supported outcomes on issues of interest to LDCs, including enhanced preferential rules of origin for LDCs and preferential treatment for LDC services providers, Sitharaman said. India already offers duty-free, quota-free access to all LDCs, which provides a comprehensive coverage with simple, transparent and liberal rules of origin.
As regards negotiations on subsidies on fisheries, she said India argued strongly for special and differential treatment.
On rules on anti-dumping, India strongly opposed a proposal that would give greater power to the WTO's anti- dumping committee to review members' practices.