On the eve of the WTO ministerial meet, India pitched for "concerted efforts" for a permanent solution to the issue of public stockholding of grains for food security programmes and a balanced outcome of the 4-day meeting.
"Consistent with the 2014 General Council Decision on the public stockholding for food security purposes, we expect members to engage constructively and make all concerted efforts to arrive at a permanent solution on public stockholding for food security purposes at this ministerial," Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.
She regretted that for decades, "a handful of farm lobbies of some countries" have been shaping the discourse at WTO, which has bearings on lives of millions of farmers in developing nations.
The minister was addressing a meeting of G-33, a grouping of developing nations which collectively represents voice of over two-thirds of humanity, a majority of which are poor and subsistence farmers.
During the ministerial beginning tomorrow, India wants the multi-lateral body to deliberate on pending issues of the Doha round and deliverables of the Bali package, including issues of the least developed countries.
At G-33, Sitharaman stressed that the grouping must be able to collectively send out a message that any outcome in Nairobi must be balanced and cover all elements of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA).
"We cannot continue with the rhetoric of a development agenda without even a reasonable attempt to address issues which are of primary concern to developing economies. For decades, a handful of farm lobbies of some countries have shaped the discourse and determined the destiny of millions of subsistence farmers of the developing countries.
"The reduction in the massive subsidisation of the farm sector in developed countries, which was the clear-cut mandate of DDA, is now not even a subject matter of discussion today, leave aside serious negotiations," Sitharaman said.
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The Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM), Sitharaman said, is important for developing countries to address import surges and price dips due to heavily subsidised imports of agricultural products from developed countries.
"All we are seeking now is an instrument that has been available to a select few for over two decades," she said, adding that the demand by G-33 is reasonable and pragmatic.
Procurement and public stockholding for food security, she stressed, are invaluable instrumentalities used in developing countries, where agriculture is mainly rain-fed and markets are imperfect and not integrated.
Such programmes also meet the requirements of ensuring two square meals to millions of the poor across the globe, the minister said.
"There can be no better tribute to this ministerial, taking place in Africa for the first time, than to have a successful outcome on SSM and public stockholding for food security, which are critical for several developing countries, including those in Africa," she said.
Meanwhile, at G-20 meeting, India's Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia said there is a need to make all efforts to conclude DDA with credible development outcomes.
"We can progress on remaining DDA issues provided all of us demonstrate political will and show flexibility and understanding to each other's concerns. That is the only way we can find common ground. We should provide clear political directions for the post-Nairobi work," she said.
Noting that while members have been willing to recalibrate their ambition, Teaotia said: "We firmly believe that any readjustment of ambition" has to be across the board and not selective if a balanced outcome has to be achieved."
Referring to the DDA framework that "produced results", the senior official said "we concluded" the Trade facilitation Agreement in Bali - the first multilateral agreement since the establishment of the WTO.
The official also said agriculture is the mainstay for millions of subsistence farmers across the world and the reform of agricultural trade rules is an important part of the Doha mandate.
"We must ensure that this remains central to the agenda. We strongly believe that the time has come to remove the disparity in agricultural trade rules, which are biased in favour of developed countries. The conclusion of the Doha Round would have gone a long way towards correcting distortions in agricultural trade," she added.
The negotiations, launched at the Qatar capital in 2001 and known as the Doha Round, have missed several deadlines for conclusion due to wide differences over the issue of giving protection to poor farmers and the extent to open the markets for industrial goods.
