World Trade Organization (WTO) The five members – Argentina, Australia, Canada, Ukraine and the US – have alleged that India provides excessive market support to wheat and rice that distorts global trade. These countries have made this claim in a letter to the World Trade Organization. These countries said India’s apparent MPS (market price support) for rice appears to be more than 87 per cent of the value of production (VOP) in each of the two years (2021-23). India has notified figures to WTO for these years. According to the countries’ letter submitted to the WTO’s Agriculture Committee, “India appears to provide significant market price support for rice and wheat both in absolute terms and as a percentage of the value of production.”
Will give appropriate answer on formal forum
An Indian official said that we will give an appropriate response at a formal forum. The letter said India’s most recent domestic support notification included more than $60.5 billion in ‘trade-distorting’ domestic support under a provision of the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA). In April, India invoked the World Trade Organization’s peace clause to provide additional support measures to rice farmers in the marketing year 2022-23 to maintain their existing public stockpiles programs for food security purposes. Was. Under this, WTO members refrain from challenging any violation of the prescribed subsidy limits given by a developing country at the Geneva-based organization’s dispute settlement forum.
India is making this demand
Subsidies in excess of prescribed limits are considered trade-distorting. For developing countries like India, this limit has been fixed at 10 percent of the value of food production. India is seeking amendment to the formula for calculating the food subsidy limit. As an interim measure, WTO members at the Bali Ministerial Meeting in December 2013 agreed to establish a mechanism called the Peace Clause. This system will remain in force until a permanent solution to the food storage issue is found.
