India emphasized on an open, fair, inclusive, and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system with WTO at its core during the SCO Trade Ministers’ meeting.
About WTO (HQ: Geneva, Switzerland)
- Genesis: 1995 post the Marrakesh Agreement. Successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
- Members: 166 (India has been a member since 1995).
- Principles of WTO: Trade without discrimination, freer trade through negotiation, promoting fair competition, etc.
Issues Facing WTO:
- Public Stockholding (PSH): The stockholding programmes are considered to distort trade when they involve purchases from farmers at prices fixed by the governments (like MSP regime in India).
- Special & Differential Treatment (S&DT): The special provisions which give countries (developing and Least Developed) special rights and allow other members to treat them more favourably.
- Developed nations argue to phase them out.
- Dispute Settlement System: Appellate Body (AB) of the WTO ceased to function in 2019 due to USA blocking appointments and reappointment affecting resolution of trade disputes between countries.
- Geopolitical Shifts: E.g., USA tariff policies, Russia-Ukraine war.
- Others: Data privacy, data flows, taxation of digital services, climate change, EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.
