India seeks WTO waiver to sell subsidised foodgrains in world market

'WTO's priority must be to revive world economy, sustain post-pandemic growth'

India has formally proposed at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to allow members to sell foodgrains from their public stockholdings to weather the ongoing food crisis that has led to sky-rocketing inflation.

“We need to look at the existing constraints in the Agreement on Agriculture that are coming in the way of augmenting (food) supplies during this crisis. And we know that there is no other substitute than augmenting the global supply at this moment,” India’s ambassador to the WTO Brajendra Navnit said last week.

Existing WTO rules do not allow member countries to export subsidised foodgrains to the world market, as