![]() "There is not a single issue that India is not blocking," a Geneva-based ambassador said, singling out WTO reform and agriculture.Ī source with knowledge of the negotiations towards a text on food security meanwhile said "the Indians are still creating problems".Įlvire Fabry, a senior research fellow at the Jacques Delors Institute, said India had appeared eager to "throw more weight around" in international organisations, warning New Delhi was capable of scuppering talks. #Wto next meeting fullIndia however appears to be stubbornly sticking to its demands on fisheries and in other areas, jeopardising the chances of reaching deals since WTO agreements require full consensus backing. And the more the fish lose, the more we all lose," he said in a statement Saturday. ![]() "The longer we wait, the more the fish lose. "Twenty-five years is an unreasonable length of time," Isabel Jarrett, head of the Pew Charitable Trusts' project to end harmful fisheries subsidies, told AFP, warning so much leeway would be "devastating for fish stocks".Ĭolombian Ambassador Santiago Wills, who chairs the WTO fisheries subsidies negotiations, stressed the urgency of securing a deal. The duration of exemptions also remains undefined.Įnvironmental groups say anything beyond 10 years would be catastrophic. One of the main sticking points has been so-called special and differential treatment (SDT) for developing countries, like major fishing nation India, which can request exemptions.Ī draft text sent to the ministers for review proposes exemptions should not apply to member states accounting for an as yet undefined share of the global volume of fishing. The negotiations "have made progress recently, but these remain difficult subjects," a diplomatic source in Geneva told AFP. The WTO says talks have never been this close to the finish line, but diplomats remain cautious. There is cautious optimism that countries could finally agree on banning subsidies that contribute to illegal and unregulated fishing, after more than 20 years of negotiations. The tensions have not curbed WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala's zeal to press for agreements on a range of issues during the first ministerial gathering on her watch, especially as the global trade body strives to prove its worth after nearly a decade with no new large trade deals. "There is a real risk that things could go off the rails next week," a Geneva-based diplomatic source said. The WTO is hoping to isolate criticism of Russia's war in Ukraine to the first day of talks, when many of the more than 100 ministers due to attend are expected to issue blistering statements.īut with many flatly refusing to negotiate directly with Moscow, there are fears the issue could bleed into the following days, when WTO wants to focus on nailing down long-elusive trade deals. Top of the agenda as the four-day meeting kicks off is the toll Russia's war in Ukraine - traditionally a breadbasket that feeds hundreds of millions of people - is having on food security.ĮU trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said the bloc had been "working hard with all the members to prepare a multilateral food security package," slamming Russia for "using food and grain as a weapon of war". ![]() With its first ministerial meeting in years, WTO faces pressure to finally eke out long-sought trade deals and show unity amid the still raging pandemic and an impending global hunger crisis. ![]()
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