WTO MC12: Piyush Goyal backs people-first approach to world trade

Seeks a permanent solution to the issue of public stockholding for food security

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday said the 12th ministerial conference (MC12) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) must send a strong message that the rich care for the poor. He also said that all member nations have come together to deliver solutions towards the polycrisis the world is facing.

Speaking at the plenary session of the MC12, Goyal lashed out at rich nations.

He said that they need to ‘introspect’ for letting down the poor and developing countries amid lack of consensus on the issue of Covid vaccine equity.

“The pandemic reinforced the importance of ‘One Earth One Health,’ calling for global solidarity and collective action. My country ramped up supplies of medical products to provide medical and health items globally. Unfortunately, the WTO could not respond with alacrity. We need to bow our heads in shame for our inability to respond to the pandemic in time,” the minister said.

Goyal further said that finding a permanent solution to the issue of public stockholding for food security should be the top-most priority of the MC12. The world is witnessing high food prices, threatening the survival of millions and subjugating the poor and vulnerable nations to imperfect markets, he added.

“Our collective moral obligation is to ensure that no person, anywhere in the world, goes to bed hungry and WTO rules should facilitate this. The Covid-19 pandemic has reinforced once again the need and efficacy of food stockholding for public good,” he said.

An important issue for India at the WTO pertains to protection of its food grain procurement programme at minimum support prices (MSP). MSP is the price at which the government buys crops from farmers if the market price falls below it. The WTO’s agreement on agriculture rules limits the subsidy that can be provided to the products that are procured.

This issue is being negotiated at the WTO by the G-33 — a coalition of least developing and developing countries of which India is a key member. These countries, along with other nations, are submitting a proposal for a permanent solution to the issue of public stockholding for food security.

India co-sponsored a G-33 proposal for a solution to the permanent stock holding for food security at the WTO, on September 15, 2021. It had the co-sponsorship of 38 member nations.

On the sidelines of the ministerial meeting of G-33 nations, Goyal said that the group has been calling for an accessible and special safeguard mechanism to address the destabilising effects of import surges and downward price movement largely due to huge subsidies by developed nations.

“Let me stress that all of us must work collectively to retain the cohesion of this coalition and strengthen it further by reaching out to other like-minded countries. We must secure their support for a fair, balanced and development-centric outcome, which must include a permanent solution to public stockholding and the special safeguard mechanism (SSM),” he said.

India is pitching for SSM that aims to protect poor farmers from rise in import or sharp decline in prices.

He also said that the agreement on agriculture is riddled with deep imbalances and favour developed nations.

Goyal feels this created the rules against many developing countries, which is evident from what's happening in different parts of the world.