WTO: G-33, G-20 meet fails to break impasse

Director-General Azevêdo talks of action plan as deadline nears for trade facilitation agreement

World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevêdo failed to break the impasse on Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), with India sticking to its position of linking it with a parallel agreement on public stockholding for food security purposes. The deadline to sign the agreement is fast running out.

In the meeting that took place at the WTO headquarters in Geneva, ambassadors from 15 groups representing a wide range of the membership, including India, from various groupings met Azevêdo.

"The impasse on the Bali issues has raised deep concerns among WTO members on the future of Doha Round negotiations… Director-General Azevêdo briefed the coordinators on the state of play and outlined the steps he has taken so far and the actions he plans to take in the coming hours. He stressed that there are less than 48 hours to resolve the crisis and that all WTO Members should be on call to meet on short notice," said Keith Rockwell, director, information and external relations division, WTO.

However, officials here told Business Standard, it is unlikely India will change its stance now. Last week, during the concluding day of WTO General Council that took place July 24-25, India made it clear that it will not sign the TFA unless there is a consensus on food security.

"A compromise at this point is highly unlikely," stated an Indian official, involved in the talks.

During the Bali Ministerial, two main decisions on it were taken. First, it was agreed that the TFA Protocol will be signed by July 31 so that it can come into force by July 2015. TFA seeks to reduce the transaction cost related to trade by streamlining Customs procedures.

Secondly, in agriculture, it was agreed that developing countries will be able to take advantage of a so-called Peace Clause that allows it to provide subsidies for its food stockholding programmes even if it exceeds the WTO-prescribed threshold of 10 per cent of total output.