Question : Issues Raised in WTO

(a) whether the negotiations on fishery subsidies discipline, which had been on hold since 2011 restarted just prior to the Nairobi Ministerial meeting in December, 2015;
(b) if so, the steps being taken by the Government to protect the ongoing schemes for marginal fisher folk such as subsidies for fishing bodies at the World Trade Organisation (WT0);
(c) whether the Government is making efforts to find a permanent solution on public stockholding programmes for food security and safeguard mechanism for curbing unforeseen surges in import of farm products and if so, the steps taken in this regard;
(d) whether the Government raised this issue in WTO recently and if so, the details thereof; and
(e) whether the move to impose safeguard duties on aluminium and steel products has been opposed at WTO and if so, the details thereof along with the steps taken to protect Indian interests?

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (INDEPENDENT CHARGE)
(SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN)

(a) & (b) : Yes Madam, the negotiations on fisheries subsidies resumed in 2015 before the Nairobi Ministerial meeting. In the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations on fisheries subsidies, India has been seeking effective special & differential treatment for developing countries.
(c) & (d) : Proposals for finding a permanent solution on public stockholding for food security purposes and an agricultural special safeguard mechanism for developing countries are ongoing negotiations in the WTO. India is working with the WTO members, especially the G-33 group of developing countries which is instrumental in advancing negotiations on these agricultural issues. Apart from the meetings in the WTO, India has been emphasizing the need for implementation of the Bali and Nairobi Ministerial Decisions on these issues on priority, in other meetings. In a recent informal gathering of Trade Ministers convened by Norway in Oslo on 21-22 October 2016, India underscored the need for prioritizing work on the Ministerial Decisions of special interest for developing countries.
(e) : In the WTO Committee meetings held recently, some of the member countries have raised questions about India’s safeguard investigations concerning certain aluminium and steel products, India has been defending its interests by appropriate interventions justifying its action under the WTO safeguard mechanism.

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