WTO chief calls for ‘immediate’ resumption of stalled trade talks

World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director General Roberto Azevêdo has asked the chairs of various negotiating groups to start consultations “immediately’’ in a bid to break the impasse in global trade talks and chart a way forward.

The multilateral trade negotiations broke down on July 31 over India’s insistence that an agreement to deal with its concerns on food security be forged simultaneously with a pact on trade facilitation being pushed by several developed country members such as the US and the EU.

Indian officials said that there would be more members appreciating its stand in Geneva this month as it has used the past month to hold extensive consultations with a number of Asian and African countries as well as developed members to explain its position. “We have had long ranging discussions with countries that have the same interest as ours as well as those who are favouring a trade facilitation pact in isolation. We have explained that our position will not harm anybody and will only help poor farmers,” a Commerce Ministry official said.

Following a one-month summer break, Azevêdo, on Wednesday, sent out a notice inviting all members to a Heads of Delegation meeting on September 15, “to share their reflections on how we should proceed”, WTO spokesperson Keith Rockwell told BusinessLine .

“The DG has also asked the negotiating group chairs to begin immediately their consultations on what Members consider to be the best way forward,” Rockwell added.

India had refused to support a protocol on Trade Facilitation – a pact on upgrading port infrastructure and putting in place time-bound clearances for smoother movement of goods – by the stipulated date of July 31, as there was no movement on an agreement on tackling food procurement subsidies.

In the Bali Ministerial meeting in December last year, it was decided that a protocol on trade facilitation pact will be signed by July 31, 2014 while a permanent solution to the food security issue will be arrived at by 2017.

India, however, expressed concerns over slow movement on the issue of food security at the WTO and said that an agreement on the matter should be reached together with the pact on trade facilitation. New Delhi wants its subsidies for food procurement to be excluded from the category of trade distorting subsidies and thus not subject to any caps (currently fixed at 10 per cent of agricultural production). Alternatively, it wants the base year for calculating the food subsidies to be changed from 1986 to the present.

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