12th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization

In News

• Recently, the World Trade Organization’s 12th Ministerial Conference was held in Geneva, Switzerland.

Major Outcomes of  12th Ministerial Conference Meeting

• Curtailing harmful fishing subsidies:
  • The WTO passed a multilateral agreement that would curb ‘harmful’ subsidies on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing for the next four years, to better protect global fish stocks. 
  • There would be no limitation on subsidies granted or maintained by developing or least-developed countries for fishing within their exclusive economic zones (EEZ).  
  • India’s role:
    • India and other developing countries successfully pushed to remove a section of the proposal that would threaten some subsidies which would assist small-scale artisanal fishing. 
      • So, artisanal and traditional farmers would not face any restrictions under this agreement.
• Global Food Security:
  • Members agreed to a binding decision to exempt food purchased by the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) for humanitarian purposes, from any export restrictions.
  • WTO members issued a declaration on the importance of trade in global food security and that they would avoid bans on food exports.
    • This declaration was issued in light of the global food shortages and rising prices caused by the war between Ukraine and Russia.
    • However, countries would be allowed to restrict food supplies to ensure domestic food security needs.
• E-commerce transactions:
  • India asked the WTO to review the extension of the moratorium on custom duties on e-commerce transactions, which include digitally-traded goods and services.
  • All the members agreed to continue the moratorium on custom duties on electronic transmission (ET) until the subsequent Ministerial Conference or until March 31, 2024, depending on whichever comes first.
    • ETs consist of online deliveries such as music, e-books, films, software and video games. 
    • They differ from other cross-border e-commerce since they are ordered online but not delivered physically. 
• Covid-19 vaccine production:
  • WTO members agreed to temporarily waive intellectual property patents on Covid-19 vaccines without the consent of the patent holder for 5 years so that they can more easily manufacture them domestically.

Issues/Criticisms

• Fishing subsidies:
  • Since 2001, member states have been negotiating to ban subsidies that promote overfishing.
  • Critics argued that this agreement would only restrict and not eradicate subsidies on illegal fishing.
• E-commerce transactions:
  • Developing countries faced the brunt of the financial consequences of this moratorium.
  • From 2017-2020, developing countries lost a potential tariff revenue of around $50 billion on imports from only 49 digital products.
• Covid-19 vaccine production:
  • Critics argue that The current agreement is a watered-down version of the original proposal made by India and South Africa in 2020. 
  • They had wanted broader intellectual property waivers on vaccines, treatments and tests.
  • It was also criticised for not covering all medical tools like diagnostics and treatments.

India’s Concerns

• A permanent solution on public stockholding of food grains was not discussed at the MC12.
  • This issue is vitally important for India as it had to secure its rights to continue its food subsidy programme, notwithstanding the restrictions imposed by the agreement on agriculture. 
• Another critical issue for India is that it is not allowed to export food grains from publicly held stocks. 
  • As India’s exports of food grains have increased, several WTO members have questioned whether grains from the publicly held food stocks are being exported. 
  • But the MC12 did not enable India to address its concerns.
• India had asked the WTO to review the extension of the moratorium on custom duties on e-commerce transactions, which include digitally-traded goods and services.

Way Ahead

• India has always faced pressure from developed nations, including the US, EU and Canada, to reduce the subsidy it gives to farmers.
• The gaps between the developing and developed members have widened in many areas, emphasising that the special and differential treatment (S&D) must continue.
  • Such treatment has been a treaty-embedded and non-negotiable right for all developing members.
• Negotiators are not able to reach agreements on issues such as permissible public stockholding threshold for domestic food security, domestic support to agriculture, cotton, and market access. 
• India needs to continue taking leadership roles as it has been doing at WTO.

Source: IE, TH