India opposes negotiations on global value-chain at WTO

India will oppose possible attempts by some developed countries to push for negotiations on global value chains at the World Trade Organisation in the mini-ministerial meet beginning in Oslo on Friday to pre-empt entry of new issues into the agenda through the “back door’’.

“While some members are trying to show that promoting global value chains (GVCs) is a noble cause as it would help small and medium enterprises to integrate with the world, it may actually serve as a back-door for entry of new issues such as investment, competition and IPR,” a Government official told BusinessLine .

New Delhi will also re-affirm its demand for special & differential treatment to protect subsidies given to its artisanal fisheries in case a pact on fisheries subsidies is signed at the Ministerial meet in Argentina next year and push for a trade facilitation agreement on services.

The Oslo mini-ministerial meeting is important as it has Trade Ministers from countries representing most interest groups including the US, the EU, India, Brazil, Russian, China, Indonesia, Lesotho and Rwanda. While it would not take any decisions, it could lay the foundation for the agreements that members could attempt to strike in next years full-fledged WTO Ministerial.

Against new issues In the last full WTO Ministerial Meet in Nairobi last year, India had taken a strong position against entry of new issues into the negotiating agenda of the multilateral trade body till the developmental issues of the on-going Doha Round were satisfactorily met.

It has subsequently, in all official level meetings of the WTO, been reiterating that development of poorer countries has to be at the heart of all negotiations and issues that actually favour the rich nations more have to wait.

GVCs — an arrangement where the different stages of the production process are located across different countries — is an idea being actively pushed by the OECD group of developed countries and G-20 members for the past few years and now finding prominence at the WTO.

“While New Delhi, too, appreciates the importance of GVCs, it believes that it needs to be facilitated through unilateral policy measures and not through mandatory global trade rules. That could actually be counter-productive because of the other fall-outs of such rules on vulnerable sectors,” the official said.

Fishery subsidies On the proposed agreement on disciplining fishery subsidies, India will hold on to its firm position that there have to be S&DT measures that will allow it to continue with its subsidy programmes for its small and marginal fishing community.

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