US crushes India's expectations for better food security programmes at WTO
, ET Bureau|
Dec 13, 2017, 10.45 AM IST
BUENOS AIRES: The US refused to take any decision on the food subsidy issue in the ongoing ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO), crushing India's expectations of securing a better deal for its food security programme and likely wrecking the event. An official accused the US of reneging on its commitments. The US and India also jousted over the latter's developing country status.
Assistant United States Trade Representative Sharon Bomer Lauritsen told a closed group meeting of countries involved in farm negotiations including India on Tuesday that the mandate from the US administration dictates that there be no outcome on agriculture, an official said.
Essentially, the US has said it will not offer any more relaxation on food security programmes as demanded by India and China along with others.
"This means that the ministerial has collapsed... no outcome on agriculture means no declaration," the official said. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is scheduled to leave Buenos Aires on Tuesday, the penultimate day of the conference, which makes it almost certain that the ministerial has collapsed.
"They had committed in Bali and now they have reneged. This is not the way multilateralism works," another official said.
This has cast shadows on finding a permanent solution for food security whose deadline is 2017 as per the Bali package.
The only progress now possible is through voting without the US, but that has never happened at the WTO where all decisions have been taken by consensus, said an expert.
Developing country status
India and the US were involved in a war of words on Monday on India's developing country status. Lighthizer's comment that "there is something wrong, in our view, when five of the six richest countries in the world presently claim developing country status" was met by a rebuttal from commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu.
Despite being a country whose GDP may be rising fast, India is home to a large number of poor people and its per capita income is much lower than those of rich nations, Prabhu had countered.
India has been fighting hard to get a binding decision on the public stockholding of foodgrain, a key component of agriculture. It wants to be able to purchase, stockpile and distribute food without being challenged in the trade body, something it says is crucial to protecting farmers and ensuring food security for the poor.
The expectations of an outcome from this ministerial had been low with the Trump administration's non-engagement on several multilateral trade issues and blocking the appointment of judges in the appellate body of the organisation.
However, experts said that ministerial host Argentina is adamant that a decision be reached and insists that failure isn't an option.
"The question is if there can be a decision without the US voting, which has never happened before in WTO. But if all countries want a decision and the US is not on board, then decisions can be made through majority voting. We have to keep our antenna up," said an expert on WTO issues.
Assistant United States Trade Representative Sharon Bomer Lauritsen told a closed group meeting of countries involved in farm negotiations including India on Tuesday that the mandate from the US administration dictates that there be no outcome on agriculture, an official said.
Essentially, the US has said it will not offer any more relaxation on food security programmes as demanded by India and China along with others.
"This means that the ministerial has collapsed... no outcome on agriculture means no declaration," the official said. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is scheduled to leave Buenos Aires on Tuesday, the penultimate day of the conference, which makes it almost certain that the ministerial has collapsed.
"They had committed in Bali and now they have reneged. This is not the way multilateralism works," another official said.
This has cast shadows on finding a permanent solution for food security whose deadline is 2017 as per the Bali package.
The only progress now possible is through voting without the US, but that has never happened at the WTO where all decisions have been taken by consensus, said an expert.
Developing country status
India and the US were involved in a war of words on Monday on India's developing country status. Lighthizer's comment that "there is something wrong, in our view, when five of the six richest countries in the world presently claim developing country status" was met by a rebuttal from commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu.
Despite being a country whose GDP may be rising fast, India is home to a large number of poor people and its per capita income is much lower than those of rich nations, Prabhu had countered.
India has been fighting hard to get a binding decision on the public stockholding of foodgrain, a key component of agriculture. It wants to be able to purchase, stockpile and distribute food without being challenged in the trade body, something it says is crucial to protecting farmers and ensuring food security for the poor.
The expectations of an outcome from this ministerial had been low with the Trump administration's non-engagement on several multilateral trade issues and blocking the appointment of judges in the appellate body of the organisation.
However, experts said that ministerial host Argentina is adamant that a decision be reached and insists that failure isn't an option.
"The question is if there can be a decision without the US voting, which has never happened before in WTO. But if all countries want a decision and the US is not on board, then decisions can be made through majority voting. We have to keep our antenna up," said an expert on WTO issues.
