Eliminating tariffs on trade of this magnitude will have a huge impact.
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“The decisions taken on Financing for Development, the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, and most recently, COP21, give us hope that the world community can collectively find solutions to pressing global issues”.
Mr Robb said the deal would complement the gains already delivered through free trade agreements with Korea, Japan and China, and would build on benefits from the Trans Pacific Partnership when it was implemented. “India blocking WTO?! Disagree”.
On his part, Ambassador Cabral said his country was fast-tracking plans to establish a trade office in Kenya to boost investments, noting the need for nations to strengthen diplomatic ties and ensure balance of trade.
“The reduction in the massive subsidization of the farm sector in developed countries, which was the clear-cut mandate of the DDA, is now not even a subject matter of discussion today, leave aside serious negotiations”, she added.
It is the first major agreement to come out of the World Trade Organization’s ministerial conference under way this week in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, and was hailed as a victory for global commerce and for the famously slow-moving organization.
India is keeping its “fingers crossed” as the uncertainty continues over the fate of the WTO ministerial meeting.
“For me, Nairobi will be remembered as having made that leap from a time when we were divided along this developed and developing divide”, she said.
“While we do bi-lateral and other agreements, we can’t deal with subsidies through bilateral arrangements, you’ve got to deal with them through the WTO”.
Trade Minister Todd McClay said the most important outcome for us is the fact WTO members won’t be able to subsidise their agricultural exports anymore.
Member countries agreed to abolish agricultural export subsidies and also approved the accession of Liberia and Afghanistan into the WTO. “The elimination of agriculture subsidies, export subsidies are spectacularly significant”.
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Farmers in countries like the United States, Japan and much of Europe receive direct government support in the form of export subsidies, which means their products can be sold cheaper on the domestic market than foreign imports.
