India to send team to Geneva to iron out WTO issues

NEW DELHI: India will soon dispatch a team to Geneva to speed up the process of negotiations to find a permanent solution on food security even as WTO chief Roberto Azevedo asked member countries to "redouble efforts" to meet the deadline of December.

The issues figured in the discussions during a meeting between Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Azevedo here today.

She said India wants the procedure of finding a permanent solution to be completed on time and before the ministerial level meet in Argentina in December.

During the meeting, Sitharaman pressed for regular meetings to discuss this important issue. "This year, I want to see discussions happening in Geneva on this. We have already done enough groundwork... We can not start discussions from scratch," she added.

The issue will come up for discussion at the WTO's committee on agriculture in Geneva. The deadline to find a solution is December-end.

Finding a solution is important for India as it would help in the smooth implementation of its food security law.

Azevedo said WTO has a clear mandated deadline for finding the solution by the upcoming ministerial meeting in Argentina.

"So, we must redouble our efforts to meet the deadline," he said, adding that the issue is important as this decision protects developing countries from legal challenges at WTO in connection with the governmental support for stockpiling of staple food at guaranteed prices.

He noted that it is particularly important for India, but "there is a lot of work to do".

"So, now what we are trying to do is whether, by December, we can come up with a permanent solution for that," Azevedo told reporters here.

He also said the G-33 group of countries, which includes India, has submitted a proposal in this regard with the Geneva-based body.
However, "that proposal has not evolved over time and I am not sure whether convergence can be found on the basis of that proposal without further revisions".

At the Bali meeting, the members agreed on public stockholding for food security purposes.