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The WTO’s last ministerial meeting in Nairobi in 2015 had laid out a clear mandate that a permanent solution on the issue of public stockholding for food security should be in place by December 2017. A permanent solution, acceptable to India and other members of the G-33 group of 62 developing countries, would be one that allows them to continue their public stockholding programmes, and also introduce new ones, without fear of breaching subsidy limits and attracting penalties. However, as the deadline approaches and members prepare for the next WTO Ministerial meet in Buenos Aires in December, growing voices against the G-33 proposal from agriculture exporting countries such as Australia and alternative suggestions from members such as the EU and Brazil are making a resolution to the matter look difficult. The burden of the demand made by G-33 (led by Indonesia) is that minimum support price programmes to help vulnerable farmers during times of distress should not be treated as trade-distorting. The group also suggested that at the least, the “erroneous” way of calculating such subsidies by linking it to the market prices prevailing in 1986-1988 should be discontinued, and be linked to current prices instead.
But recently, , Australia said it could not accept an outcome which would provide unlimited market price support under the banner of ‘public stockholding for food security’. Pakistan, Peru, Thailand, Japan, Paraguay, Australia, Mexico and Russia expressed similar support for more stringent rules on public stockholding programmes.
India has already paid once for WTO members agreeing to work out a permanent solution on public stockholding. It had agreed to support the Trade Facilitation Agreement at the Bali ministerial based on the promise. What developed members owe India and other developing countries is a satisfactory permanent solution without which it must not agree to anything new, including an agreement on fisheries subsides which will be pushed at Buenos Aires.
Senior Deputy Editor
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