India agrees with US on food stockpiling, clears way for WTO deal

NEW DELHI: India has reached an agreement with the United States on public stockpiling of food on Thursday, paving the way for the implementation of a global trade facilitation deal that has been stalled for months.

"India and the United States have resolved their differences on public stockholding of food," Nirmala Sitharaman said. "This opens the way for implementation of the WTO trade facilitation deal."

The proposals will be reviewed by the World Trade Organization's General Council, she added, expressing the hope that approval would clear the way for India to sign a protocol enabling implementation of the trade accord.

We are glad to say that US has appreciated and now openly supported our concerns on public stockholding. #wto

— CIM India@GOI (@CimGOI) November 13, 2014

"While there was much media debate and concerns expressed regarding the impact of India's stand in the WTO, it has undeniably resonated across the world. Many countries saw merit in what we were asking for. India was not alone or isolated. Others were simply not speaking up," a press release issues by the Commerce Ministry said.

End of impasse at #WTO shall open way for implementation of Trade Facilitation Agreement.

— CIM India@GOI (@CimGOI) November 13, 2014

Following are some of the salient points:

Reasons for India's Stand

> The Doha Development Agenda which was agreed in the year 2001 is the very first round dedicated to development. The agenda is a fine balance between market access and development issues.

(1/2 )We urge #WTO membership to take this forward in the General Council on behalf of the Ministerial Conference..

— CIM India@GOI (@CimGOI) November 13, 2014

(2/2)...and pave the way to spurring the #WTO to more such success.

— CIM India@GOI (@CimGOI) November 13, 2014

> We supported the Bali Package but when subsequent developments belied that hope, India had no option but to seek a course correction. India, therefore, took the stand that till there was an assurance of our concerns being addressed, it would be difficult to join the consensus on the Protocol of Amendment for the Trade Facilitation Agreement.

India, US successfully resolve diff. on public stockholding issue for food security in #WTO. Listen audio byte at http://t.co/imYXA6GnY8

— CIM India@GOI (@CimGOI) November 13, 2014

Commitment to the Trade Facilitation Agreement

> India has reiterated its commitment to the Trade Facilitation Agreement a number of times.

> We recognise its value for trade and for that reason we agreed to it in the larger interest of global trade.

> However, for developing countries the benefits may not be commensurate with the associated costs. Implementation of the rest of the Bali Decisions will give some comfort to the developing countries and LDCs, even though most of the non-binding decisions do not hold out the promise of substantial gains for these countries. We will continue to work for the implementation of the Bali Package and the DDA.
India had asked WTO to amend the norms for calculating agri subsidies so that the country could continue to procure foodgrains from farmers at minimum support price and sell them to poor at cheaper rates without violating the WTO norms.

The current WTO norms limit the value of food subsidies at 10 per cent of the total value of foodgrain production. However, the quantum of subsidy is computed after taking into consideration prices that prevailed two decades ago.

There are apprehensions that once India would fully implement its food security programme it may breach the cap.

With the issue having been resolved, Sitharaman said: "We supported the Bali Package but when subsequent developments belied that hope, India had no option but to seek a course correction.

"India, therefore, took the stand that till there was an assurance of our concerns being addressed, it would be difficult to join the consensus on the Protocol of Amendment for the Trade Facilitation Agreement," she added.