Addressing the plenary session of the 9th Ministerial Conference of the WTO, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said the Bali package must be substantive, and historical imbalances in trade rules must be corrected to ensure a rule-based, fair and equitable order.
“Agriculture sustains millions of subsistence farmers. Their interests must be secured. Food security is essential for over four billion people of the world. For India, food security is non-negotiable. Need of public stock-holding of foodgrains to ensure food security must be respected. Dated WTO rules need to be corrected,” he said.
The G-33, grouping of 46-member developing nations including India, China and Indonesia, has proposed to amend the WTO Agreement on Agriculture in order to procure foodgrains from poor farmers at minimum support price and sell to poor people at cheap rates through public distribution system.
India’s Food Security Act entitles 82 crore people to 5 kg of foodgrains per person a month at Rs 1-3 per kg.
The country needs 62 million tonnes foodgrains a year to implement the law.
“A trade agreement must be in harmony with our shared commitments of eliminating hunger and ensuring the right to food. These are an integral part of the Millennium Development Goals,” he added.
He said the due restraint provision in its current form cannot be accepted and it must remain in force till “we reach a negotiated permanent solution”.
The G-33 proposal on food security aimed at addressing the problems faced by developing countries due to outdated WTO rules which base agriculture subsidy calculation on external reference prices of 1986-88, even as global food prices have increased manifold during this period.