Despite hectic discussions, WTO MC13 ends with no deals on fisheries, agriculture

WTO ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi ends without decision on key issues, extends e-commerce trade moratorium for 2 years.

The talks at the WTO's ministerial conference ended with no decision on key issues such as finding a permanent solution to public food stockpile and on curbing fisheries subsidies that lead to over-capacity and over-fishing, sources said. However, the members agreed to further extend the moratorium on imposing import duties on e-commerce trade for two more years, they said.

Despite the four days of hectic parleys getting extended for a day, the 166-member World Trade Organisation (WTO) was not able to reach a common ground for resolving the food security issue, a demand raised prominently by India, and curbing subsidies that leads to overfishing and over capacity.

Also read: WTO MC13 | What’s on the agenda for India?

They added that India successfully pushed the food security issue and the country did not yield any ground on protecting the interest of poor farmers and fishermen and also on other issues and kept its defensive interests in various fields intact.

The Indian team led by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, in cooperation with the G-33 grouping, had pitched hard for a permanent solution to the food security issue as it was crucial for the livelihood of 800 million people across the globe.

The 13th ministerial conference (MC), which was supposed to end on February 29, got extended by a day due to the logjam.

The Cairns group, comprising countries like Australia and Brazil, has claimed that public stockholding is market-distorting and that there should be no export restrictions. Food-importing countries like Japan and Singapore are pushing for predictability in farm policies.