We have to try and get an agreement on food security by December: Roberto Azevedo

Interview with Director-General, WTO

Roberto Azevêdo, Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO), says negotiations for having a permanent solution to the food stockholding issue will intensify till it comes to a possible conclusion by December. In an interaction with Nayanima Basu on the sidelines of the CII Partnership Summit, he said talks to conclude the main Doha round will begin from July. Edited excerpts:

By December, a permanent solution to the food stockholding issue is scheduled. Will the deadline be met?

That is the goal. We have to try. We agreed to do so last year.

Have the negotiations for this begun in Geneva or are you expecting those to commence after the February general council meet?

They have started. My understanding is it will intensify and we will make sure we conclude these by the end of the year.

You met Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today (on Friday). Did you understand India’s stand on the permanent solution?

We talked about my specific views and I think it was very positive, as we found a lot of commonalities on the way we see the process moving forward.

Did you get a feeling when you spoke with her that India might be pushing for linking the principle of a single undertaking stance with food security?

If there is any attempt of that kind, I did not hear it. The mandate of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) is very clear. Nobody is changing it.

So, what is the plan going forward in the WTO?

The DDA is in July. We have to start figuring out from now to July how to arrive at a conclusion. In December, we have a mandate that sets up negotiations for the permanent solution, which we will try to conclude. Members will engage, negotiations will begin, so that we reach that target.

What about the post-Bali work programme, on the other issues in the Bali package?

We are working on it from now and July. Some are already implemented. Some did not require time for implementation. For example, the tariff rate quotas were automatic and implemented immediately. Some do not require negotiations, they require only continuous work, which is the case with rules of origin, duty-free, quota-free — these might require discussions till the 10th ministerial. All these are independent issues.

You said by July, all the DDA issues will be discussed. Will all issues be taken up?

Yes, all.

So, you are sure no other issues outside the DDA will be taken up?

Members can take up anything at any time but not in the DDA. The latter mandate has already been established. They have the right to discuss new issues but they have to take it up with other WTO bodies.

So, are you aiming at concluding all issues of the Doha round by December?

I did not say that. I said we have a deadline of July for the work programme. So, by July, we have to figure out the programme which will set out how we are going to proceed in concluding the DDA and, then, when we are going to conclude and how we will do it.