India backs exceeding WTO farm sops limit

India has said the existing global trade rules do not adequately address market failures such as food hoarding and market speculation that drive up food prices and inflation during crises.

At a meeting of the Committee on Agriculture last week, India agreed with the 44-member African Group, which proposed to provide flexibilities to developing countries facing food insecurity crises to subsidise farmers beyond the minimal amount of subsidies allowed at the World Trade Organization (WTO), called ‘de minimis’ in trade parlance.

“India agreed that providing some flexibility to developing countries to exceed de minimis limits could be useful during a food insecurity crisis,” said a Geneva-based official, who did not wish to be identified. The de minimis level for India and developing countries is 10% of value of food production and 5% for developed countries.


“India also reiterated its stance on reducing aggregate measurement support beyond de minimis – which, at present, only 32 members are entitled to – before addressing other types of support,” said the official.

India, China and South Africa, along with five others, emphasised the urgency of starting text-based negotiations on the need to find a permanent solution on public stockholding for food security as soon as possible due to the limited time remaining before MC13, which is to be held next year.

The proposal, now supported by two-thirds of WTO members, should serve as the basis for negotiation, they argued and asked those opposing the proposal to refrain from repeating old questions. As per the proposal, a permanent solution for public stockholding should account for inflation and also be based on a recent reference price instead of an old one, which is based on 1986-88 prices.

India’s representative cited the country’s successful efforts to eliminate hunger domestically and provide food assistance to other countries such as Sri Lanka during the food crisis, as per the official.