India to take up food security with WTO chief

NEW DELHI: India will press for expediting negotiations on grain stockholding when a government team meets the World Trade Organization’s chief later this week to discuss food security and easing cross-border movement of professionals amid rising protectionism.

“Agriculture, especially food security, is on the agenda. With the Trade Facilitation Agreement on goods coming into force, some momentum has to be created for food security," said an official aware of the meeting.

The developing world’s food security concerns have remained unresolved from the Doha Round and were part of both Bali and Nairobi ministerial meetings. Easing services trade is a relatively recent subject which India is spearheading.

A team comprising senior officials from the commerce department will meet Roberto Azevedo in Geneva, the official said. The team, which also includes India's new permanent representative to the WTO, will emphasise on a permanent solution for public stockholding to avoid such programmes from facing dispute and penalty, especially because 2017 is the deadline to find a solution.

India and other members of the G-33 group of countries have sought to amend WTO rules on agriculture. They have proposed food procurement from farmers to feed the poor under a subsidy fixed at 10%. The proposal uses an old methodology for subsidy calculation that does not account for inflation and is based on a price index of 1986-88.

However, developed countries haven't been forthcoming in finding a permanent solution to the problem. The issue needs a fillip to get placed in the agenda of the General Council, the apex decision making body of the WTO.