The World Trade Organisation's General Council meeting has been postponed till tomorrow as all members are yet to get formal approvals from their Governments for the revised drafts related to public procurement and trade facilitation agreement.

It will now be on Thursday, an official privy to the happenings in Geneva told Business Line.

The General Council will take up the two drafts related to public procurement and trade facilitation that incorporate changes over what was agreed to in the Bali Ministerial in December last year.

A meeting of the GC has been called following an agreement reached between India and the U.S. on the issue of dealing with New Delhi's public procurement and food security concerns and the pending trade facilitation agreement.

All 160 members have to agree to the revised drafts for it to be formally adopted by the WTO.

India had in July refused to support a protocol on trade facilitation till its concerns on food security were addressed.

The new public procurement draft, which the GC has to clear, incorporates changes requested by India which includes making the peace clause indefinite and sets an early deadline for reaching a permanent solution on meeting its food security concerns.

The peace clause gives immunity to developing countries against action from other members in case they breach agriculture subsidy caps.

In Bali, it was decided that the peace clause would be in place till the Eleventh Ministerial meet in 2017.

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