WTO chief calls Sharma, key trade ministers to end impasse

In a last ditch effort to salvage the global trade talks, the WTO chief has called an urgent meeting of the trade ministers of the US, India and Indonesia to end the impasse over the food security issue.
WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo will be meeting Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, US Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman and Indonesian Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan -- the three key players.
According to sources, earlier in the day Azevedo held an one-and-half hour long meeting with Sharma to end the impasse following the rigid stand taken by India with regard to the food security issue.

During the meeting with the WTO chief, Sharma is believed to have reiterated New Delhi's stand on the food security and the peace clause relating to subsidy.
The Indian Minister, sources said, suggested to the WTO chief that issues concerning food security should be taken up for discussion before any other item on the agenda.
Addressing a packed press conference, Sharma had said: "It is better to have no agreement than to have a bad agreement... We have not come here to collapse any meeting. India is committed to a positive outcome in Bali. India is committed to a balanced and fair outcome, particularly in public stockholding and food security."

Developed countries such as the US are asking India to accept a peace clause, which offers four years of immunity against penalties imposed for breaching the farm subsidy cap of 10 per cent under the WTO Agreement on Agriculture (AoA).
India and other developing nations, on the other hand, want the peace clause until a permanent solution is found on the matter for smooth implementation of the food security programme.