India to stick to its stance at WTO talks

Talks got stalled in July over signing of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) into a legal framework under global trading rules

India will continue pressing for an agreement on food stockholding and subsidies, as it prepares for reviving talks at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in September over signing of a trade facilitation agreement (TFA) into a legal framework under global trading rules.

“Our stand will remain the same when talks resume in September. We will insist on an agreement on food stockholding,” Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher said on Tuesday, on the sidelines of a Confederation of Indian Industry event.

The deadline to sign the TFA protocol was July 31. India had vetoed the process and postponed signing it, as it insisted on a parallel agreement that would allow the government to stockpile foodgrain and grant food subsidies. Following the talks, WTO went for its annual summer break in August.

Officials in the commerce  ministry said the government was keen to resume negotiations and was even ready to sign the protocol related to TFA that sought to cut red tape and bring in more transparency in global Customs procedures.

According to other officials, involved in the talks, it became clear from January that developed countries were not keen to take the talks on public stockholding forward. On the other hand, a series of negotiating rounds were held on TFA, as that will make it easier for the developed countries to penetrate the emerging markets.

Under the issue of public stockholding for food security purposes, India had been, specifically, insisting on revision of external reference price (ERP) based on which farm subsidy is calculated, as per WTO norms, to a more contemporary period.

Presently, the ERP of 1986-1988 is taken into consideration for calculating the quantum of subsidies provided by each member-country.

Meanwhile, WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo has said  there is an opportunity in September to “restart the talks and see if a bridge is possible.” “If we don't find a solution for this issue, we could see a considerable impact on other areas of world negotiation," Azevedo said in a speech in Mexico City.

According to Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman, TFA was never a part of the original Doha Development Round. She also said India has no issues in signing the TFA if concerns of food stockpiling are addressed.

On the other hand, the issue has taken a political colour here with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the government chose to protect the concerns of poor and hungry alleging that the former UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government chose to sign the Bali deal sacrificing the interest of poor people.

Modi’s remarks invited sharp criticism from UPA, which stated that the prime minister was misleading the country by giving false statements.

(With inputs from Reuters)