India has actually become the central figure in a debate at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). India is not bending to pressure and will try not to accept the plan when its right to stockpile food grains is still not accepted, and will not vote for it.
The mega meeting of trade ministers from all 164 WTO member countries, which legislates on global trade every two years, is taking place in Geneva, Switzerland.
In the aftermath of a global shortage of wheat due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, both major growers of the cereal, and unseasonal hot weather destroying crops, food security has become the central topic of discussion at the 12th Ministerial Conference of the WTO.
On the summit’s third day, a proposed global declaration to not curb food grain exports to the World Food Programme (WFP), which seeks to fight hunger in places hit by conflicts, disasters and climate change, is one of the main items on the agenda. The declaration will be binding and goes against the demands of India to exercise its right to control its food exports.
Also, this draft declaration does not mention public stockholding for food security purposes. While many countries are concerned over a looming food crisis, India’s responsibility to provide food to its 800 million poor and vulnerable population will not be compromised.
India’s stance on the issue is being closely watched by almost all major economies as every decision at the WTO is taken unanimously and even a single dissenting voice can shut down the entire process.
As of now, it seems India’s refusal may tank the proposal, backed by the overwhelming majority of WTO member nations.
Government stand
There were enormous apprehensions about food security during the COVID-19 pandemic. Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on June 13 told the WTO that India can’t forgo the public distribution system (PDS) for food grains that it has built over the past 75 years.
India distributed nearly 100 million tonnes of food grains through the PDS, thanks to the public stocks that it had acquired. It has allocated grains to nearly 800 million poor and vulnerable people for nearly the past 25 months at a cost of over $50 billion. This almost doubled the existing food grains being distributed to vulnerable sections of society under the National Food Security Programme.
This has been universally recognised as one of the most comprehensive approaches to addressing hunger during the pandemic. In fact, several reports suggest that this has helped reduce inequality amongst different sections of society.
Pressure on India
India had proceeded to the summit with the support of poor and developing nations, but as the risk of a food crisis has become more evident, it has lost allies. The proposal is being backed by a group of 70–80 countries led by Singapore.
On June 13, a WTO spokesperson told a news conference in Geneva that most WTO members had expressed broad support for the proposal, with the exception of India, Egypt, and Sri Lanka. Previously hesitant, Tanzania had decided to endorse the texts, the spokesperson added.
Egypt and Sri Lanka, both net food importers, want recognition that their ability to export food might be limited.