India to Raise Key Issues from Stockholding to Fishing Rights at WTO

India will prioritize addressing outstanding issues such as public stockholding for food security at the upcoming four-day ministerial of the World Trade Organization (WTO), before engaging in discussions on other agricultural matters. Additionally, India will advocate for special fishing rights for developing countries and oppose attempts by China to intertwine investment with trade agendas. It will also emphasize the need for an effective dispute-resolution mechanism. India, a founding member of the WTO, is committed to strengthening the organization but insists on inclusive decision-making processes to maintain its multilateral nature.

The 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) of the WTO, scheduled to commence on February 26 in Abu Dhabi, holds significance for agriculture-related negotiations, particularly concerning public stockholding for food security. This issue is crucial for India, as it involves ensuring minimum support prices for farmers and providing subsidized food under various welfare schemes. While the negotiations for a permanent solution have been ongoing since the Bali Ministerial Conference in 2013, India asserts the need to prioritize this matter before addressing other issues.

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India, along with other developing countries, also seeks a special safeguard mechanism under agriculture negotiations to protect small and marginal farmers from import surges or price declines. Moreover, India emphasizes the importance of addressing historical asymmetries in domestic support provided by developed countries before discussing reductions in domestic support.

Furthermore, India rejects demands for prior notice before imposing export restrictions on commodities, citing the necessity of such measures for food security and price stabilization. The issue of cotton subsidies, which adversely affect exports from developing nations, is another concern for India.

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Regarding fishing rights, India opposes multilateral restrictions that could impact its nine million fishing families and calls for developed nations to withdraw subsidies contributing to overfishing. Additionally, India opposes attempts to treat investment as a trade issue and advocates for the discontinuation of the customs duty moratorium on e-commerce trade.

India also reaffirms its commitment to environmental protection, labor reforms, and women empowerment but opposes efforts by developed nations to negotiate non-trade issues within the WTO framework. Establishing an effective dispute resolution mechanism, particularly in light of the near-defunct status of the WTO’s dispute settlement body, is crucial for the functioning of the multilateral trading system according to India.