As negotiations on fisheries subsidies enter a critical phase, India will oppose any move to immediately end subsidies for fishermen in developing countries.The next World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial will consider important issues, such as fisheries subsidies, WTO reform, public procurement programs for food security and the multilateral body’s response, including fate. A patent waiver proposal issued by India and South Africa to fight the pandemic better, an official source said on Wednesday. The 12th WTO Ministerial Conference will be held in Geneva from 30 November to 3 December.
As negotiations on fisheries subsidies enter a critical phase, India will oppose any move to immediately end subsidies for fishermen in developing countries. Instead, it would suggest that developing countries that are not involved in fishing in distant waters should be exempted from excessive subsidy restrictions for 25 years, taking into account their development needs. Also, developed countries should end their fish subsidies within 25 years.
New Delhi believes that large subsidies (developed countries) should take greater responsibility for reducing their dole-out and fishing potential, in accordance with the principles of “polluter pay” and “common but differentiated responsibilities”. needed. The per capita fisheries subsidies provided by most developing countries (including India) are much lower than those of advanced fishing countries.
While developed economies, including the US and the European Union, have advocated that all countries do away with fishing subsidies associated with overfishing and overfishing, developing countries have avoided such restrictions to protect their small fishermen. Requested a discount. Analysts have said that heavy subsidies, estimated to be in the range of $14-54 billion per year globally and mostly extended by large fishing countries, have contributed to the over-exploitation of the world’s fish stocks.
patent exemption
Similarly, India will strictly adhere to its proposal seeking patent exemption for manufacturing of Covid-related medical products by temporarily suspending parts of the global trade-related aspects of the Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement. Although WTO members agreed in June to launch fine-grained, text-based talks for a patent waiver proposal launched by India and South Africa to fight Covid, not much progress has been made so far, the main Due to strong resistance from developed economies such as the European Union.
food security
New Delhi will also push for a permanent solution to the issue of public procurement for food security, which was not reached at the 2017 Buenos Aires ministerial agreement. However, India’s major procurement programs are permanently protected by penal provisions under the Safe Peace Clause. In 2013, the Bali Ministerial of the World Trade Organization (its permanent status was confirmed in late 2014), is trying to ensure that this security has legal status so that even if a member state reneged on its promise, However, the dispute settlement mechanism of the WTO will not consider its appeal.
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