African-Caribbean group backs India at WTO on food security

India has the support of the 72-member ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) group of countries on its demand for a permanent solution to the issue of public stock holding and food security at the forthcoming World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial meet in Buenos Aires, said Patrick Gomes, Secretary-General, ACP.

Equally important is the need to get an agreement on curbing fishing subsidies to checking over-fishing and illegal and unreported fishing, said Gomes in an interview with BusinessLine .

“The ACP is collaborating with India closely in several areas. We have to be sure that we look at ways in which we can find, at least for this forthcoming WTO meet, some declaration that addresses a minimum fisheries subsidies and address issues of public stockholding and food security, because that is important for India,” Gomes said on the sidelines of the World Export Development Forum 2017 meet in Budapest.

India, together with other members of the G-33 group of developing countries with a large number of poor farmers to protect, has been demanding a permanent solution to treating subsidies for public stock holding programmes of developing countries as non-trade distorting at the December meeting of WTO Trade Ministers.

The support of the 72-member strong ACP group is important to India as it greatly adds weight to its demand at the multilateral forum.

In the area of fisheries subsidies, India has advocated that subsidy curbs should not be in territorial waters and should be applied only on fishing done outside the limits.

Trade Ministers of ACP countries, who met recently in Brussels, noted with concern the attempts made by a number of developed members to do away with the special and differential treatment for developing countries at the WTO, junk the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) and Doha Round and introduce new issues, such as e-commerce.

“The great divide at the WTO has been caused by some countries wanting to push the DDA aside and introduce new issues. One of the issues many want to speak about is e-commerce. It is far too soon for us to get into that discussion,” he said.

Even as countries are discussing removing preferences and tariffs, new barriers are being introduced in the form of regulatory standards and packaging requirements resulting in an increasing number of rejects from developing countries, Gomes said.

“All developing countries must come together to insist that the DDA must conclude its issues if trade is going to be an instrument for development. If all our members have agreed to sustainable development goals, then environment, economic and social dimensions have to be brought to the fore,” he added.

(The writer is in Budapest at the invitation of International Trade Centre)

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