The World Trade Organizations will hardly fulfill the tasks set before it. Commenting on India’s move that effectively blocked an international agreement on easing trade regulations last week, Russian experts expressed some doubts about WTO.
The agreement on easing trade regulations was adopted at the ministerial level conference in Bali in December. India vetoed a protocol which would have paved the way for the agreement to come into effect on August 1 and be ratified by 160 WTO members. India backed its position with the absence of progress in creating food reserves. The government buys food from small-scale producers at artificially high prices to subsequently sell them on local markets at a lower price. The WTO considers this policy as subsidizing agriculture. But for India, this is a way of assuring stability on the grain market. In Bali, a compromising decision was adopted, and such purchases were allowed until 2017. But at present, India insists on adopting a conclusive decision on the issue by December. India’s Western partners hurried to accuse it of taking the WTO hostage and outlining the beginning of the end of the organization. Expert at the Institute of Oriental Studies Andrei Volodin describes these accusations as panic-based. “This position is based on the interests of Western Europe and the US in preserving their control over the WTO. India’s move shows that the balance of strength has shifted to Asia that wants easing trade regulations to fit well into the general concept of establishing new parity-based world economic the order. The West’s criticism of India is in line with its attempts to preserve the West-centric world. In fact, such a world doesn’t exist now. India is acting in line with its interests. It is a big country. I believe that it will win the support of not only small and medium-sized countries but also China and Indonesia,” Volodin said. Expert at the Institute of Contemporary Development Nikita Maslennikov believes that India’s veto is a sign of WTO’s emerging incapacity. “The present WTO does not solve many issues. India’s veto insists that it is enough going around in the framework of this “pound”, and there is a need to search for new corridors and expand the territory on which the WTO regulatory rules of new generation are in force. After the ministerial conference in Bali, the overwhelming majority of experts are skeptical about the efficiency of the adopted agreement. India’s move has shown the importance of reset in the Bali process. I do not believe that India’s position is a “mutiny on board the ship”. Simply, there are mounds and rough spots on the way to parity-based trade. One has to draw attention to this,” Maslennikov said. Accusation against India that it has cornered the WTO is only partially true, says director of the Centre for Indian Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies Tatyana Shaumyan. “For certain, there is a possibility for holding talks. I believe that negotiations will be resumed because neither side is satisfied with the existing situation. There is room for further talks. The situation is tense, of course. But India will always proceeds from its national interests. The problem of creating reserves of food is one of the most important tasks,” Shaumyan said. The Bali agreement is a package of measures aimed at easing customs formalities and reducing subsidies for farmers. It was considered as the first significant agreement concluded by the WTO in the past 20 years. The WTO will have to wait until December to conclude the agreement, in case the Indian issue is resolved by that time. Source: Voice Of Russia
