Food Security Talks In WTO

At the 13th ministerial conference (MC13) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Abu Dhabi, 164 member nations are participating in negotiations on agriculture

Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala SItharaman has reiterated India's demand for a permanent solution to the debate on public stockholding of foodgrains and discussions on a special safeguard mechanism during her visit to World Trade Organization (WTO)headquarters.Sitharaman had travelled to Geneva earlier this week to meet WTO director General Roberto Azevedo and point out India's position on crucial issues before WTO nations meet in Argentina later this year.A unanimous reaffirmation of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) had not occurred at the last ministerial conference held in Nairobi back in 2015.While Doha has been grabbing headlines, the more contentious issues of public stockholding of food crops and special safeguard mechanism (SSM) in agriculture have also not seen major progress.The DDA, adopted way back in 2001 at the fourth ministerial conference, had always struggled to find a common ground among members after a schism developed between the rich nations and their ..