Key WTO members to meet in Morocco to discuss agenda

Key WTO members, including India, will meet in Morocco to deliberate upon the agenda which will be formally discussed at the forthcoming ministerial conference in Argentina, a senior official today said.

Geneva based officials will soon work on the draft agenda for October meeting in Morocco, ahead of the Argentina ministerial meeting in December.

"It will be a mini-ministerial kind of meeting at Marrakesh, Morocco. The ministers will talk about the agenda which will go to the ministerial conference in Argentina," the commerce ministry official said.

Perhaps this is for the first time that key WTO members are meeting just before the ministerial conference, the highest decision making body of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), to finalise the agenda.
 

India is pitching to fulfil the pending agenda which includes finding a permanent solution to the issue of food stockpiling.

The country also wants the WTO members to deliberate upon a proposal submitted by India in trade facilitation in services.

On the other hand developed countries, including the US, are pushing for inclusion of certain new issues like investment facilitation and e-commerce in the World Trade Organisation agenda.

India has stated that discussions on new issues could divert attention from priority areas.

Procurement and public stock-holding for food security are invaluable instrumentalities used in developing countries where agriculture is mainly rain-fed and markets are imperfect and not integrated.

The food security issue concerns several developing nations which provide subsidised foodgrain to their poor.

A peace clause exists till a permanent solution is found for the food stockpiling issue.

This clause has enabled India to continue procurement and stocking of foodgrain for distribution to the poor under its food security programme without attracting any kind of action from WTO members even if it breaches the 10 per cent subsidy cap as prescribed by the multilateral trade body.