India to pitch for permanent solution for food security in WTO meet

India believes that the draft text on agriculture is "completely imbalanced"

India will pitch for finding a permanent solution to the issue of public stockholding for food security at the upcoming 12th ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) that will kick start from November 30, said officials on Wednesday.

“Now that the 12th meeting is approaching, a number of submissions are being made at the WTO for advancing negotiations in agriculture. India, along with the G-33 (group of nations), has been engaging in finding a permanent solution to the public stockholding issue,” one of the officials cited above said. India is hopeful of a positive outcome on public stockholding and domestic support, which are part of the negotiations.

It believes that the draft text on agriculture that was firmed up four months ago by a WTO panel is “completely imbalanced”. It felt this has dampened the prospects of any reasonable outcome on agriculture at the 12 ministerial conference and is not in favour of developing nations.

Finding a permanent solution to the public food stockpile issue is linked to the survival of 800 million hungry people across the globe.

Under the trade norms, a WTO member’s food subsidy bill should not breach the limit of 10 per cent of the value of production based on the reference price of 1986-88. Apprehending that full implementation of the food security programme may result in breach of the WTO cap, India has been seeking amendments in the formula to calculate the food subsidy cap.

As an interim measure, the WTO members, at the Bali ministerial meeting in December 2013, had agreed to put in place a mechanism popularly called the Peace Clause. They committed to negotiating an agreement for a permanent solution at the 11th ministerial meeting at Buenos Aires. Under the Peace Clause, WTO members agreed to refrain from challenging any breach in the prescribed ceiling by a developing nation at the dispute settlement forum of the WTO. This clause will be there till a permanent solution is found to the food stockpiling issue.

India had invoked the clause in 2018-19 (13 per cent) and 2019-20 (11 per cent) as it breached the subsidy cap for rice. The discourse in agriculture talks includes developed members asking developing countries to take on additional commitments in terms of enhanced market access and reduction in policy space through reduced domestic support.

Another issue under discussion is related to additional disciplines on export restrictions of agricultural products. Countries such as Japan, Cairns, G-10, European Union, the US, and Singapore are seeking outcomes on two issues. One is related to exemption of foodstuffs purchased for non-commercial humanitarian purposes by the World Food Programme. The other is advance notification of export restrictive measures. “Under the rules, WTO members can temporarily impose export restrictions to prevent critical shortages of food or other essential products to the country. India has raised concerns, saying this may be burdensome for developing countries,” the official said.

With inputs from PTI