Trade: After 9 years, WTO seals deals; India gains, says Piyush Goyal
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday that New Delhi has achieved “spectacular success” at World Trade Organization (WTO)’s biennial ministerial conference (MC12) by successfully ensuring the livelihood of farmers and fishermen, and also convinced other countries to waive patents for manufacturing Covid-19 vaccines.
The minister, who led India’s delegation to the six-day global summit in Geneva, Switzerland, said: “India is 100% satisfied with the outcome of WTO’s MC12 conference,” the media reported.
Trade ministers from 164 WTO member nations took part in the round-the-clock meetings which concluded with deals on a temporary waiver on global intellectual property rights (IPR) for Covid vaccines and fishing subsidies to protect ocean resources.
“When it began, everyone had written off this conference as a failed endeavor. There had been no decision, not even an outcome document at the WTO since 2015. A lot of arguments against multilateralism and that globalization has no promise. This conference has re-established the position of multilateral institutions by deciding on issues pending for decades,” Goyal observed.
“They currently limited the agreement on fisheries to illegal, unreported, unregulated fishing. The discussion on extending this to all government subsidies will take place going forward. Currently, there are no restrictions on government subsidies. Instead, the WTO has taken cognizance of India’s demand that nations that have consistently supported illegal deep-sea fishing be regulated, he added.
No negative outcome for India’s agriculture sector emerged at the meeting. India’s public stockholding program for food grains will also continue unhindered, he said, adding talks on food security are progressing.
After India blocked it, 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, was passed in a changed format.
The WTO meeting sealed a package of trade agreements, including pledges on food security, the balanced outcome on fisheries subsidies, and response to pandemics – all issues important to developing countries.
“All agreements fully agreed and were unanimously signed. A decision on a temporary patent (TRIPS) waiver for Covid-19 vaccines is expected soon. We are waiting for the US approval,” said an official in Geneva.
India defended its right to extend subsidies to its fishermen, and to an 18-month extension of the moratorium on customs duty on electronic imports that, it argued, favors wealthy nations.
For the first time, subsides on overfishing, deep-sea fishing, and illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing have been addressed through the proposed pact.
“At India’s instance, sovereign sights on EEZ (exclusive economic zones) have been firmly established. It is a huge achievement,” officials said, adding principal stakeholders benefiting from these “historic decisions” are fishermen, farmers, food security, multilateralism, and trade and business, particularly the digital economy and MSMEs.
India’s key demand for a permanent solution to public stockholding of food grains will now be taken up in the next ministerial meeting.
The deal on the patent waiver on Covid-19 vaccines will allow India and other eligible developing countries to manufacture and export vaccines without seeking permission from the original maker for five years. It will help the companies to set up more manufacturing plants in other countries.
“This conference has restored multilateralism. India took a major leadership role and was the voice of the developing world and the LDCs (least developed countries).
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