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India, China, the Arab countries and the other developing country members of the G-33 will continue to fight for re-affirmation of the Doha development agenda at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said.
“The statement (the Ministerial declaration of the WTO’s Nairobi meet) says one section did not want to re-affirm the Doha agenda. Another, which includes India, China, the G-33 and Arab countries, want a re-affirmation. That section will keep fighting to have it re-affirmed. That fight will continue for India,” Sitharaman said addressing a press conference on Wednesday.
The Minister was answering a question on the future of the Doha development agenda, launched in 2001, as a large number of developed members, including the US, the EU, Australia and Switzerland, pushed for its burial at the Nairobi meet that concluded last week.
Under the Doha agenda, developing countries and LDCs can use a ‘less than full reciprocity’ clause to take on lower commitments than developed countries on all aspects of the negotiations be it market access for agricultural and industrial goods, services or rules.
On public stockholding, where India is looking for a permanent solution to treating such subsidies so that they do not attract penalties, the Minister said that a work programme has been committed to.
“The intention from our side will be to pursue it with greater vigour in Geneva so that a work programme is given at the earliest and based on that special sessions of the committee on agriculture will be held. As was committed to in Bali (Ministerial) and as was re-affirmed in Nairobi, a permanent solution should emerge by 2017,” she said.
Answering a question on what bargaining chip can be used by India to ensure that it does get a special safeguard mechanism (SSM) to protect farmers against import surges, the Minister said that it was a right, which the country has to be given. “We have made sure that what was given as a right in the Hong Kong ministerial declaration gets re-affirmed. When every attempt was being made to link the SSM to market access, we insisted that we have to get back to the Hong Kong decision. Now that a decision to commit on SSM and a decision to commit for a work plan on SSM has been given, we will quote that and ask for a work plan,” she said.
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