{"id":3131,"date":"2019-05-15T12:58:53","date_gmt":"2019-05-15T07:28:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/?p=3131"},"modified":"2019-05-15T12:58:53","modified_gmt":"2019-05-15T07:28:53","slug":"indias-wto-proposal-to-safeguard-developing-nations-justified","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/indias-wto-proposal-to-safeguard-developing-nations-justified\/","title":{"rendered":"INDIA’S WTO PROPOSAL TO SAFEGUARD DEVELOPING NATIONS JUSTIFIED"},"content":{"rendered":"

Relevant for prelims and Gs paper 3<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

India has been urging WTO members to identify common spheres to make the multilateral trade body more uniformly effective in tackling its share of challenges. Several countries, including China and South Africa, have in the recent past questioned the WTO\u2019s relevance.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>New Delhi (Sputnik): India’s demand to\u00a0amend laws to\u00a0prevent developed countries from\u00a0taking unilateral action on\u00a0global trade issues to\u00a0the detriment or disadvantage of\u00a0lesser developed or underdeveloped countries within\u00a0the WTO system is fully justified, Manoj Pant, a foreign trade analyst in\u00a0New Delhi, told Sputnik.<\/p>\n

Responding to\u00a0India’s proposal to\u00a0safeguard the right of\u00a0special provisions for\u00a0developing countries, already challenged by\u00a0the US, a New Delhi-based economist and director of\u00a0the Indian Institute of\u00a0Foreign Trade (IIFT), Professor Manoj Pant, said that all developing or underdeveloped countries have a right to\u00a0receive special and differential treatment (S & DT).<\/p>\n

He said they should be given time to\u00a0implement bilateral and multilateral trade agreements and commitments.<\/p>\n

The observation assumes significance against\u00a0the backdrop of\u00a0India hosting representatives of\u00a025 developing countries at\u00a0a two-day mini-ministerial meeting between\u00a013\u00a0\u201414 May in\u00a0the national capital New Delhi. The meet will involve deliberations on\u00a0several issues related to\u00a0the World Trade Organisation (WTO).<\/p>\n

It will be the second such mini-ministerial meet to\u00a0be held by\u00a0India. The first was organised in\u00a0March 2018 and participated in\u00a0by\u00a0over 50 nations to\u00a0resolve various WTO-related issues and ways to\u00a0reinvigorate the Geneva-based inter-governmental global trading institution, according to\u00a0The Hindu Business Line news website.<\/p>\n

Stating that S & DT was brought in\u00a0way back during\u00a0the Uruguay Round (of WTO talks), Professor Pant said: “S & DT must be continued because that is the only way countries can and must adjust. Special and differential treatment has been given or allowed as\u00a0a kind of\u00a0safety to\u00a0allow countries to\u00a0adjust to\u00a0changing disciplines\u2026 It is a kind of\u00a0credit adjustment”.<\/p>\n

India has been appealing to\u00a0WTO members to\u00a0identify common areas through\u00a0which the multilateral trade body can be strengthened and made more uniformly effective in\u00a0dealing with\u00a0challenges faced by\u00a0it, especially after\u00a0the Buenos Aires ministerial meet of\u00a0December 2017 ended in\u00a0a deadlock on\u00a0a number of\u00a0issues.<\/p>\n

Several countries, including China and South Africa, have in\u00a0the recent past\u00a0questioned the relevance of\u00a0the WTO in\u00a0the context of\u00a0ensuring a level-playing field in\u00a0global trade. Many countries have been taking protectionist measures that have had a significant impact on\u00a0global trade.<\/p>\n

The Indian proposal is reportedly focused on\u00a0S & DT measures that allow for\u00a0longer time-periods to\u00a0implement agreements and commitments, adequate measures to\u00a0increase trading opportunities, introduction of\u00a0provisions to\u00a0safeguard trade interests, and build sufficient capacity to\u00a0handle disputes and implement technical standards.<\/p>\n

China and South Africa have reportedly expressed keen interest in\u00a0India’s proposal to\u00a0safeguard the right of\u00a0special provisions for\u00a0developing countries, which the US is not in\u00a0favour of.<\/p>\n

Washington believes countries that are members of\u00a0the OECD (Organisation for\u00a0Economic Cooperation and Development) or the G20 (Group of\u00a020) and are classified as “high income” by\u00a0the World Bank, and account for\u00a0more than\u00a00.5 percent of\u00a0global merchandise trade, should not be given special rights or exemptions. It views these countries as\u00a0emerging economies.<\/p>\n

The 14th G20 Summit to\u00a0be held in\u00a0the Japanese city of\u00a0Osaka from\u00a026\u00a0\u201429 June may witness India taking a strident stand against\u00a0countries wanting to\u00a0initiate new or amended global rules in\u00a0e-commerce. Whatever the outcome of\u00a0the G20 talks, the impact could be felt at\u00a0the next round\u00a0of the WTO talks.<\/p>\n

“We want to\u00a0have development through\u00a0S & DT, as\u00a0the core of\u00a0WTO reform, along\u00a0with appellate body appointments. We will also discuss ways to\u00a0address asymmetries in\u00a0various global trade agreements especially on\u00a0agriculture”, the Economic Times quoted an official as\u00a0saying.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Relevant for prelims and Gs paper 3 India has been urging WTO members to identify common spheres to make the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[853,571,545,817,409,413,392,390],"class_list":["post-3131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-miscellaneous","tag-civil-service-exam","tag-general-knowledge","tag-general-studies","tag-gs","tag-gs-paper-3","tag-ias","tag-union-public-service-commission-upsc","tag-upsc"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3131"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3138,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3131\/revisions\/3138"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}