India’s negotiating team at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is seeking inputs from key Ministries and Departments including Agriculture, Consumer Affairs and IT on the negotiating strategy to be adopted at the multilateral body’s ministerial meet in Buenos Aires in December.
“With issues such as public stock holding of foodgrains, fisheries subsidies and e-commerce likely to dominate the agenda of the WTO meet in Buenos Aires, it is important to get the views of all Ministries that are likely to get affected by decisions taken,” a government official told BusinessLine .
India’s Permanent Representative to the WTO JS Deepak and his team of negotiators, together with the trade policy division of the Commerce Ministry, are holding a four-day intense inter-ministerial discussion this week on what the country should push for and what it should guard against in the on-going negotiations.
The Ministries and Departments participating in the talks include Economic Affairs, Industrial Policy & Promotion, Telecom, IT, Agriculture, Consumer Affairs and Food.
“Inputs are needed from Departments of Agriculture, Economic Affairs, Food and Consumer Affairs on the stand India needs to take on the important issue of public stock holding, domestic subsidies and fisheries,” the official said.
As per the decision taken at the WTO Ministerial Meet in Bali in December 2013, a permanent solution to India’s concern on treating subsidies on public stock holding programmes for food grains needs to be arrived at by the end of 2017.
Although India is protected by a peace clause it negotiated in 2014 against any action from fellow members in case its subsidies breach the ceiling of 10 per cent of production value, it wants a permanent solution protecting its interest rather than a peace clause.
“Discipline on fisheries subsidies to prevent over-fishing is another area where members are looking for a pact. India has to ensure that the rights of its artisanal fishermen are not affected by the disciplines. It is therefore important to get inputs from the departments of agriculture and fisheries on the matter,” the official said.
e-commerce issueNew Delhi also has to decide what its response should be on new issues such as e-commerce.
With a number of developed members such as the US and the EU pushing for an end to the on-going Doha round and demanding that new issues be introduced in the negotiations, some hard decisions need to be taken by India.
Pressure is, especially, growing at the WTO to begin negotiations on a pact on e-commerce with a number of developed members, and some developing countries too, pushing for it.
India’s team at the WTO Ministerial meet in Buenos Aires will be led by Commerce & Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.