Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Commerce & Industry

21-November-2016 16:59 IST

The negotiations on fisheries subsidies resumed in 2015 before the Nairobi Ministerial meeting. In the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations on fisheries subsidies, India has been seeking effective special & differential treatment for developing countries.

Proposals for finding a permanent solution on public stockholding for food security purposes and an agricultural special safeguard mechanism for developing countries are ongoing negotiations in the WTO. India is working with the WTO members, especially the G-33 group of developing countries which is instrumental in advancing negotiations on these agricultural issues. Apart from the meetings in the WTO, India has been emphasizing the need for implementation of the Bali and Nairobi Ministerial Decisions on these issues on priority, in other meetings. In a recent informal gathering of Trade Ministers convened by Norway in Oslo on 21-22 October 2016, India underscored the need for prioritizing work on the Ministerial Decisions of special interest for developing countries.

In the WTO Committee meetings held recently, some of the member countries have raised questions about India’s safeguard investigations concerning certain aluminium and steel products, India has been defending its interests by appropriate interventions justifying its action under the WTO safeguard mechanism.

This information was given by the Commerce and Industry Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in a written reply in Lok Sabha today

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MJPS

Special and differential treatment urged in WTO talks; India presses subsidy, public stockholding and safeguard implementation. India seeks enhanced protections for developing countries in WTO talks, pressing for special & differential treatment and prioritized implementation of Ministerial decisions on fisheries subsidies, public stockholding for food security, and an agricultural special safeguard mechanism while coordinating with developing-country coalitions. India has also defended its domestic safeguard investigations into aluminium and steel as consistent with the WTO safeguard mechanism.