Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal speaks within the closing hours of negotiations on the World Trade Organisation biennial gathering of ministers, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on March 1, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
The final result of the thirteenth ministerial conference of the WTO was “good” and India is “completely satisfied” because the nation continues to retain its full coverage area to guard the pursuits of farmers and fishermen in each respect, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has mentioned.
He mentioned that New Delhi’s procurement of meals grains for distribution among the many poor continues uninterrupted and with none hindrance.
“India continues to retain full policy space for the benefit of our farmers, our fishermen, and in every respect, we have been able to take India’s interests to the highest level possible,” the Minister instructed reporters in Abu Dhabi after the five-day assembly of the Trade Ministers of 166-member World Trade Organisation (WTO).
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As the members weren’t in a position to attain a consensus on key points akin to agriculture and fisheries subsidies, the talks that have been scheduled to finish on February 29 acquired prolonged for a day.
The talks on the WTO’s ministerial conference ended with no choice on points akin to discovering a everlasting resolution to public meals stockpile and on curbing fisheries subsidies, however the members agreed to additional lengthen the moratorium on imposing import duties on e-commerce commerce for 2 extra years.
The ministerial conference, the best decision-making physique of the WTO, additionally managed to get extra outcomes akin to new disciplines on home regulation for companies, formal becoming a member of of Comoros and Timor-Leste as members of the WTO, and least growing nations persevering with to get the advantages of LDC even three years after commencement.
India efficiently pushed the meals safety subject and the nation didn’t yield any floor on defending the curiosity of poor farmers and fishermen in addition to on different points.
Mr. Goyal mentioned “it’s a good outcome and we are completely satisfied… A lot of issues continue to make progress in terms of discussions.
“Generally by the MC13, progress was made on a number of contentious points which had not been closed for a few years. Forward motion is all the time an indication of a doable closure going ahead,” he said.
He added that in the proposed fisheries subsidies agreement aimed to curb subsidies that lead to over capacity and over fishing, India found several ambiguities on the proposals that were on the table.
Some of the subsidies that certain countries give to their resource-poor fishermen were sought to be excluded.
Besides, definitions were not satisfactory and several areas where deeper consultations and greater degree of flexibility was required to ensure a fair and balanced agreement, were not possible in such a short period of time.
“By and huge, the targets with which we had come to Abu Dhabi are largely met and we return absolutely happy,” he said, adding, “our largest curiosity was to guard our farmers and our fishermen, each of which we’re strongly doing and that’s our offensive curiosity which we’re actively pursuing.”
On further extension of the duty moratorium on e-commerce trade, the Minister said that India was “not essentially opposed” to it fully.
Since the members had not discussed the issues pertaining to the moratorium during the time between MC12 (happened at Geneva June 2022) and MC 13, such as its scope and its impact on different economies, “we imagine that it is in the very best curiosity that we proceed this e-commerce moratorium”, he said.
When asked about the effort of certain developed countries to push non-trader issues like investment facilitation agreement, environment and labour in the WTO, Mr. Goyal said India has been successful in making sure that such issues cannot become part of the WTO.
“Since funding shouldn’t be a part of the WTO and we didn’t enable to return in. Similarly, an effort was made to deliver industrial coverage discussions, once more an space that India believes shouldn’t be part of the unique Marrakesh (Morocco) framework.
“So while the effort can be made to bring in non-trade issues, I think India has successfully made sure that no non-trade issue can be allowed to be brought before the WTO,” he mentioned.