WTO members could finalise a trade deal in 'next couple of hours'

Negotiations on fisheries are going on and members are quite close to a deal with carve-outs for India and other developing countries, said an Indian trade negotiator on condition of anonymity

The 164 members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are close to finalising a trade deal at the 12th Ministerial Meeting in “next couple of hours”, an Indian trade negotiator said on condition of anonymity.

The four-day MC12, supposed to end on June 15, got extended by a day as an agreement could not be reached within the stipulated time frame. Trade ministers negotiated through the night at the WTO headquarters overseeing Lake Geneva and negotiations continued on Thursday morning.

“Negotiations on fisheries are going on and members are quite close to a deal with carve-outs for India and other developing countries. Talks on TRIPS waiver are progressing well. In agriculture, it is possible that there may not be any agreement which can be considered a good outcome for India. This would mean no fresh work programme on agriculture reforms will be agreed as proposed by the developed countries though we would have to live without an agreement on our proposal to allow exports from public stockholdings. The moratorium on customs duty on e-commerce transactions could be extended as a concession for agreeing to our demands in some other areas,” the official said.

If an agreement is reached at Geneva, it will be WTO’s first trade deal in a decade. In 2013, at the Bali Ministerial, members signed WTO’s first trade deal on a peace clause on public stockholding for food security purposes and trade facilitation agreement. The consensus driven rule making process at the multilateral trade organization means even one member could thwart a deal at the last moment.