WTO should not negotiate rules on non-trade issues, says Piyush Goyal

Says such matters should be addressed in intergovernmental organisations

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday said the World Trade Organization (WTO) should not negotiate rules on subjects not related to trade, and matters such as climate change, gender, and labour should be addressed in their respective intergovernmental organisations.

“India firmly believes that any measures taken to combat climate change, including unilateral ones, should not constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised restriction on international trade,” the minister said in a virtual address at the WTO’s 13th ministerial council (MC13) meeting.

The four-day 13th MC started on Monday in Abu Dhabi. It is the highest decision-making body of the WTO and can take decisions on all matters within the ambit of multilateral trade rules based on a consensus.

 

During a session on sustainable development and policy space for industrialisation, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal expressed the need for avoiding fragmentation of the multilateral trading system and the importance of remaining focused rather than mixing non-trade issues with the WTO agenda.

Indian officials had earlier said New Delhi would oppose at MC13 any work programme or a negotiation mandate on non-trade issues such as the environment, gender, and micro, small and medium enterprises and would continue to maintain its stand that labour and the environment were non-trade issues and they should not be discussed at the WTO.

Goyal called for an outcome on the long-pending mandated issue of a permanent solution on public stockholding for food security since the issue was directly related to achieving the sustainable development goal of zero hunger by 2030.

“I am confident with the collective efforts of all of us, MC13 will engage constructively to give an outcome on the long-pending mandated issue of a permanent solution on public stockholding for food security and send a strong message that the world cares for the poor, vulnerable and marginalised people and that all of us have come together to give them a better future,” Goyal said.

Through its public stockholding programme, the Indian government procures foodgrains such as wheat and rice at predetermined prices and then subsidises them through the public distribution system. The policy tool is used by the government to meet food security.

India has found support from a group of developing nations at the WTO, including African ones, on this issue. However, developed countries, including the United States as well as the 19-member Cairns Group, view this as a subsidy for farmers and trade-distorting.

A permanent solution is crucial because some developed countries have been raising questions on India’s minimum support price (MSP) programme for foodgrains, particularly rice, since the subsidy has breached the suggested limit under WTO trade norms thrice.

Separately, during the opening session of MC13, WTO Director General (DG) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala urged member nations to be “flexible”, so that they could deliver important outcomes over the next few days in Abu Dhabi, but without keeping aside their national interests.

“Sometimes you (may) have to compromise on certain wants of yours, so that others can secure their work. We will need your leadership from every member large and small, developing and underdeveloped in order to succeed here in Abu Dhabi,” she said.