Commerce and Industry Ministry Anand Sharma said on Wednesday that as far as India is concerned, compromises on food security are non-negotiable.
Addressing the plenary session of the Ninth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) here, Sharma said: "Agriculture sustains millions of farmers and their interests must be secured. There is need for public stock-holding of foodgrains to ensure food security. The Bali package must be substantive."
Calling for a resetting of historical imbalances, Sharma further said that trade rules need to be rule-based, fair and equitable.
"The trade agreement must be in harmony with the shared commitments of eliminating hunger and ensuring the right to food," Sharma said.
On Tuesday, Sharma categorically stated that outcome of the Ninth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is the collective responsibility of the entire WTO membership, and a fair, balanced result would be possible only if the genuine concerns of developing countries including India are satisfactorily addressed.
He underlined this point at a series of bilateral meetings he had with several of his counterparts in Bali.
More From This Section
He had meetings with Bireme Abderahim, Minister of Trade of Chad; Mike Bimha, Minister of Trade of Zimbabwe; Johann Schneider-Ammann, Head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER); Shanker Prasad Koirala, Minister of Finance, Industry and Commerce, and Supplies of Nepal; Karel de Gucht, Trade Commisioner of the European Union (EU) and Gao Hucheng, Minister of Commerce of the People's Republic of China.
Sharma said ensuring food security for large populations was a common concern shared by developing countries, including India and China as WTO rules in the area of agricultural support had become dated and did not take into account rising prices.
At a luncheon meeting with the India, Brazil, and South Africa (IBSA), Sharma reiterated India's concerns, especially the issue of food security.
Brazil and South Africa conveyed agreement with India's position and wanted to know how best these could best be accommodated in the Bali package.
Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry of South Africa and Luiz Alberto F. Machado, Minister of External Relations of Brazil were participated in the meeting.
Sharma said the issue to be addressed was not just food security, but inadequacies in the whole draft Bali proposals - whether on export competition; tariff rate quota (TRQ) administration; or trade facilitation, only lip service is paid to interests of developing countries in proposed texts which are devoid of substance, and consist largely of best endeavor provisions.
He reiterated India's commitment to the strengthening and preservation of the multilateral trading system and take forward its agreed negotiating mandate.
The G-33, a grouping of 46-member developing nations, including India, China and Indonesia, has proposed to amend the WTO Agreement on Agriculture in order to make foodgrains available to poor people at cheap rates through public distribution system.