WTO said a deal had been reached on the issue of farm export subsidies, with developed nations expected to get rid of their subsidies starting now with developing nations to eliminate theirs from 2018. “That all unfinished pillars of DDA shall be carried forward was also ensured”.
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After hectic negotiations for five consecutive days, the WTO Trade Ministers concluded their talks last evening without any commitment on rich countries being asked to check their domestic subsidies.
The Nairobi gathering also agreed on a timetable for implementing a deal on getting rid of import duties on 201 high-tech products, whose annual trade is estimated at over $1.3 billion (1.2 billion euros) a year.
Significant progress was made on the implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement, which is aimed at reducing global trade costs by streamlining the flow of goods across countries, he said.
Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman rejected the allegations against India.
A peace clause means no WTO member can drag India to the dispute panel for offering more product-specific support to farmers through procurement of grains than stipulated under the WTO until a permanent solution is found. “Undue haste in pushing select (matters which are) subject of interest (of developed countries) worrying”, she tweeted.
The conference was extended by a final non-stop 24-hour negotiation between the major trading powers, who agreed on a package that included phasing out agricultural export subsidies and restricting agricultural export credits.
Kenya’s Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed said she was confident that the Nairobi talks had actually “strengthened” the body over the week.
Fonterra, the world’s biggest dairy exporter, says the deal is good news for Kiwi dairy farmers.
But it added: “Other members do not reaffirm the Doha mandates, as they believe new approaches are necessary to achieve meaningful outcomes in multilateral negotiations”.
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Developing countries will also keep the flexibility to cover marketing and transport costs for agriculture exports until the end of 2023, and the poorest and food-importing countries will enjoy additional time to cut export subsidies. “So I would still appeal to delete the date given here”, she said at the concluding session of the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference. In recent years, the European Union has led the way in agreeing to renounce the use of export subsidies.
