No consensus on fish subsidies at WTO talks

At the 13th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, no consensus was reached on fisheries subsidies. India seeks special treatment and complete exemption for its small scale and artisanal fishermen. The negotiations are deadlocked and a meaningful agreement is needed.

India criticizes the Global North’s hidden agenda of using non-tariff barriers for market access. It urges the WTO to address services trade and mobility issues while emphasizing free trade and addressing the disparity in micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME).

India emphasizes restoring the appellate body as the top priority in the WTO dispute settlement system reform. New Delhi proposes a three-point action plan, opposes the EU’s MPIA proposal, and calls for formalizing ongoing informal discussions. Disputes can be settled through adjudication or a mutually agreed solution.

The US blocks WTO appointments, hindering negotiations and voice of Least Developed Countries. India’s Joint Statement Initiative on Services Domestic Regulations benefits developing countries.

India and South Africa’s objection to China’s investment facilitation initiative at the WTO affects developing countries including the Least Developed Countries, highlighting the vulnerabilities, the need for flexibilities in existing rules, and support for infant and young industries through conducive policies, incentives, and subsidies.

Negotiations at WTO’s Ministerial Conference on fish and farm subsidies are stuck. Developed countries resist developing nations’ demands. EU and US block pro-development agenda. Green room meetings continue. Little action seen on promises made by developed nations for development matters.

Amid pressure, New Delhi said that at least five outcomes were in place at the World Trade Orgnaisation MC13, including new disciplines on services domestic regulation. The developing countries are facing demands from richer nations regarding environment, labour, and gender issues.

These WTO (World Trade Organisation) members are taking the additional obligations under the General Agreement on Goods in Services (GATS) to ease non-goods trade among themselves and extend similar concessions to all other members of the WTO.

India opposes China-led IFD, a non-trade issue beyond WTO. It wants to terminate the moratorium on taxing e-commerce transmissions, a key focus point for India at WTO MC13. India’s concern stems from the fact that any attempts by the proponents of IFD to bring a “non-mandated, non-multilateral issue” to the formal process in the WTO […]

Exporters have requested fair distribution of the onion export quota amid confusion caused by conflicting statements from political leaders and senior government officials. The ban on exports remains, but a limited quota has been allowed to Bhutan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, and Mauritius.