The 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) was recently conducted in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
About 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) of WTO:
- The Ministerial Conference is the WTO’s top decision-making body and usually meets every two years.
- All the members can make decisions on all matters covered under any multilateral trade agreements.
- The 13th Mc was held in Abu Dhabi, UAE, while the first meet was held in Singapore in 1996.
- Trade ministers of 164 member countries discussed on uncertain global economic situation due to the Red Sea crisis, the Ukraine-Russia war and the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Key agendas by India at WC13:
Food security issues:
- G-33 nations urged WTO members to find a permanent solution to public stockholding issue (PSH).
- PSH program is a policy tool under which the Government procures some crops from farmers at a minimum support price (MSP), and stores and distributes food grains to the poor.
- India stressed the need for PSH for its vulnerable population as food procurement, stockholding, and distribution are crucial to India’s food security strategy.
- MSP is normally higher than the prevailing market rates and sells these at a low price for food security for over 800 million beneficiaries.
- Under global trade norms, a WTO member country’s food subsidy bill should not breach the limit of 10% of the value of production based on the reference price of 1986-88.
- India has asked for amendments in the formula to calculate the food subsidy cap, against developed nations who believe that it distorts global trade prices.
Joint Support Initiatives (JSIs) or Plurilateral agreements:
- India strongly opposed the efforts of a group of countries led by China to push a proposal on investment facilitation for development agreement at the WTO.
- Its integration has systemic concerns that would impact developing nations in pursuing their interest in the future.
Agricultural reforms:
- India’s stance is to protect farmer livelihoods and ensure equitable market access.
- Developed nations push for reduction in domestic support and increased market openness, despite providing large subsidies to their rich farmers.
WTO reforms:
- India advocated for inclusive reforms that consider developing countries’ interests, against developed nations’ proposals for flexible negotiation processes.
- Other concerns include dropping of decision-making by consensus and the integration of non-trade issues into WTO without consensus.
- India prefers that special and differential treatment for less developed and developing nations, equal voice and dispute settlement mechanism should be retained while undertaking reforms.
- India also seeks a revamp of the Appellate Body to ensure fairness, against some developed nations like USA, due to overreaches by the WTO’s judiciary.
Fisheries subsidies:
- India champions a balanced approach on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, as it is low fisheries subsidizer.
- An agreement under which subsidies will be prohibited for illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
- India proposed that developing countries be allowed to give subsidies till Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) or up to 200 nautical miles from the shore.
- Rich countries engaged in fishing beyond this zone should stop providing any kind of subsidies for the next 25 years.
Extension of Customs duties moratorium on e-commerce trade:
- The ongoing moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions, in place since 1998, is a contentious issue facing the WTO.
- India and other developing nations called for its termination, but developed nations advocated for permanent adoption of a duty-free flow of digital transmission.
Trade barriers:
- India maintained its stand that issues like labour, and environment are non-trade issues and should not be discussed at the WTO.
- It also emphasized that trade barriers like the EU’s carbon tax and deforestation regulation should not be erected under the guise of sustainable development.
About World Trade Organization:
- It is the only international organization that deals with the rules of trade between countries.
- It was founded in 1995 and includes 164 members.
- All decisions are taken through consensus and any member can exercise a veto.
- WTO aims to promote free trade, done through trade agreements discussed and signed by the member states.
- It also provides a forum for countries to negotiate trade rules and settle economic disputes between them.
Ref: Source
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