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BENGALURU: The World Trade Organisation should allow countries to export foodgrains from their public stockholding to address the issue of global hunger and food insecurity, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at a seminar on the sidelines of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting in Bali on Friday.
The current WTO norms bar countries from exporting food grains from public stockholdings as they are subsidised and can distort international prices. This was also India’s key demand at the 12th WTO ministerial conference that took place last month in Geneva, but could not make it to the package deal agreed by 164 member countries.
“WTO restrictions that grains so procured cannot be brought to the market to export. It is a condition that has existed since the Uruguay Round days. We have repeatedly said that more than (excess) what we have for our small farmers, who need the ration...we are quite willing to trade that so that in today’s context, hunger, food insecurity can be addressed,'' Sitharaman said.
There are food shortages in several countries due to supply chain disruptions caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.
However, she added that there is still hesitation in the WTO on this. Sitharaman was speaking at a seminar on 'Strengthening global collaboration for tackling food insecurity.’
She highlighted that while supplies through the World Food Programme is “one little success", more was required to be done in the form of allowing countries to supply to those who “desperately" need food supplies. “This is the time for us to review so that we don't take exogenous shocks on issues like hunger, on food. I can understand if there is a problem with fuel, I keep worrying about it, but that's an issue afterwards. The first is to get the food to the poor," said Sitharaman.
The WTO members last month agreed to exempt the UN World Food Programme from any export restrictions on procurement.
India had pitched at the WTO that countries should be allowed to export foodgrains from public food stocks for the purposes of international food aid, or for non-commercial humanitarian purposes and sell on a government-to-government basis. It will now be discussed along with other agriculture issues in the next ministerial conference.
Sitharaman said that there is an urgency to strengthen food production and the global food system.
Sitharaman also shared India's experience of running a technology-led food security programme that acted as a big facilitator in distributing rations to the poor amid a country-wide lockdown during the pandemic.
“India's experience in ensuring that no Indian remains hungry even during the severest of lockdown …(was) brought in by sheer using of technology...which enabled and ensured that the social welfare measures would reach them. We ensured that the identity card of the individual and his family’s details are all linked with what we call as Aadhaar which is a biometric identity card. We did not have even one incident of people waiting for food to be supplied," said Sitharaman.
Speaking at the 3rd G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting, Sitharaman highlighted the importance of capital spending amid global uncertainty and said that India's long-term growth prospects were embedded in public capex programmes. She also outlined that evidence-based policymaking was vital for resilient economic systems.
Her remarks come at a time when two years after the pandemic key economies across the globe are facing inflationary pressures and demand slowdown amid supply chain disruption led by the Russia-Ukraine war and monetary policy tightening.
The government has been focusing on increasing capital expenditure to push economic growth to revive economic demand post-pandemic as it acts as a multiplier for infrastructure creation. Government is of the view that higher public spending would crowd in private investment.
Sitharaman during the Union Budget in February raised capital expenditure (capex) by 35.4% for the financial year 2022-23 to ₹7.5 trillion to boost demand. The capex last year was ₹5.5 trillion.
“FM delivered her intervention on the Global Economy, focusing on India’s economic development, global risks and policy responses, '' the ministry of finance said in a tweet on Friday. "Reflecting on India's growth story, FM shared that India's long-term growth prospects are embedded in public Capital Expenditure programmes, and evidence-based policymaking is vital for resilient economic systems," said the ministry of finance in another tweet,
Participating in the second session of the ongoing G20 FMCBG, Sitharaman shared views on G20's Health Agenda including pandemic preparedness and response mechanisms.
She also highlighted the need for immediate mobilisation and deployment of resources for health emergencies.
"FM Sitharaman called for a global coordination mechanism with WHO at its centre. FM also said that India is committed to supporting all efforts to protect and prepare against any future pandemic," another tweet said.
The finance minister also highlighted that sustainable global recovery should be pivoted on climate actions and the focus needs to be on scaling up climate finance and propelling green transitions.