Bali: In a major victory for India, the WTO today agreed to allow countries to provide subsidy on staple food crops without any threat of punitive action, a concession that salvaged the current round of world trade talks from the brink of collapse.
After burning the midnight oil and tough negotiations over the past four days in the face of India's unrelenting stand on the food security issue, the 159-member World Trade Organization (WTO) reached a historic agreement that will boost global trade by USD 1 trillion.
The deal allows nations such as India to fix a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for farm produce and to sell staple grains to the poor at subsidised rates. It also permits countries to store foodgrains to meet contingency requirements.
"A great day for India, I am more than happy. India has clinched WTO deal for the farmers and poor of the world," Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said.
The draft Ministerial Decision put up for endorsement to the member countries was consistent with India's position on both food security and trade facilitation.
The draft proposes an interim mechanism for safeguarding minimum support prices to farmers against WTO caps till a permanent solution is found and adopted.
It does not use the terms “Peace Clause” or “Due Restraint” that Anand Sharma had declared inappropriate on Thursday.
“It's a war of nerves,” Mr. Sharma told reporters just before the WTO released the draft.
