India not to compromise interest of farmers at WTO: Nirmala Sitharaman

NEW DELHI: India today said it will not compromise the interest of poor farmers and consumers at the WTO and sought complete resolution of the foodgrain stockpile issue, which is essential for unhindered implementation of the country's food security programme.

"Food security is a humanitarian concern, especially in these times of uncertainty and volatility, and the issue of food security is critical to a vast swathe of humanity and cannot be sacrificed to mercantilist considerations," Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the Lok Sabha.

Justifying India's tough stand, which had led to collapse of the WTO Geneva talks recently, she said without a permanent solution, public stockholding programmes in India and other developing countries will be hampered by the present ceiling on domestic support which is pegged at 10 per cent of the value of production and is wrongly considered as trade-distorting subsidy to farmers under existing WTO rules.

"India stood firm on its demands despite immense pressure. India is committed to protecting the interests of our farmers against all odds. Our farmers work in extremely adverse conditions, most of them at the mercy of the vagaries of the monsoon, aggravated today by climate change," she said.

India had decided not to ratify WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), which is dear to the developed world, without any concrete movement in finding a permanent solution to its public food stock-holding issue for food security purposes.

Congress leader and former food minister K V Thomas said UPA government had also adopted the "same stance". Commenting on this Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan said: "It was a good thing."