Members including the US and the UK, raised concerns over India’s 50 percent increase in farm subsidies in 2022-23 in the meeting of the Committee on Agriculture.
India responded that its input subsidies were for “low-income or resource-poor” farmers exempted under Agreement on Agriculture.
About Agreement on Agriculture
- It was negotiated at the Uruguay round and ratified in Marrakesh (Morocco) in 1994.
- It contains provisions in three broad areas of agriculture and trade policy
- Market Access: includes tariffication, tariff reduction and access opportunities.
- Tariffication means that all non-tariff barriers such as quotas, variable levies etc. need to be abolished and converted into an equivalent tariff.
- Domestic Access: deals with subsidies and other support programmes that directly stimulate production and distort trade. It has various kinds of boxes based on the type of subsidies provided (Refer to box).
- Export Subsidies: deals with methods which makes exports artificially competitive.
- Developed Members and developing countries eliminated export subsidies as per the Nairobi Ministerial Decision 2015.
- Market Access: includes tariffication, tariff reduction and access opportunities.
- Public stockholding programmes of developing countries are covered under the peace clause as an interim solution.
- Members would not challenge these programmes legally under the Agriculture Agreement.
Different Type of Boxes
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