Piyush Goyal lauds WTO MC12's 'positive outcomes'; 'India has received 100% success'

Union Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has lauded the ‘collective efforts’ at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference and said that ‘positive outcomes have come out’ of it. Speaking after WTO's 12th Ministerial Conference in Geneva, Goyal said that progress has been made on long pending issues and India has received 100% success. This ministerial meeting at the WTO is the most successful ministerial meeting over the last many years, the minister had earlier asserted.

“I think that with all our collective efforts, in this WTO MC12 establishment of multilateral institutions has once again been strengthened. Positive outcomes have come out. Progress has been made in long pending issues, issues that were pending for decades,” Union Minister Piyush Goyal said in Geneva.

After vital negotiations running for five nights, 164 ministers of the WTO reached a historic declaration on disciplining harmful fishing subsidies and the TRIPS waiver. The formal announcements on the deal have already arrived. Speaking after the Conference, Goyal said that he can return to India without any ‘worry’. “I think India has received 100% success. There is not one issue for which we need to return to India with any kind of worry,” the minister said.

India takes a leading role in WTO negotiations

It is pertinent to mention that India took global leadership on all the issues and it was at the center of WTO negotiations. India also put forth aggressive draft texts in all pillars of WTO negotiations. The committee for negotiations on fisheries at the WTO ministerial meeting was headed by commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal. They focused on the protection of the interests of Indian fishermen and farmers.

Speaking at a press conference after the WTO meeting, Goyal said, “For five days WTO ministerial Conference held on various topics and everyone expressed their views and opinions. Our team laid their views in front of the world very passionately and we became the voice of the developing world. No decision and outcome were taken from 2015 in WTO and everyone assumed that this will be failed conference. But positive outcomes have come out, which was pending for long years.”

“We kept our focus and subjects on the directions given by PM Modi Ji. We have kept and expressed all our views. Today, the world is appreciating ‘Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna’. No negative outcome on India in the field of agricultural field and no disagreement came on the government in the fisheries sector,” he further added.

The WTO agreements in details

The WTO Ministerial Declarations look into a variety of issues like an emergency response to food insecurity, WTO's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and preparedness for further pandemics. The ministerial decisions on World Food Programme, Food Purchase Exemption from Export Prohibitions or Restrictions, Work Programme on Electric Commerce. Lastly, the WTO members finally inked a deal on the TRIPS waiver and Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.

The agreement is in line with India's demand to promote sustainable fishing and push for the renouncement of "irrational subsidies" and overfishing by many countries that were hurting Indian fishermen. According to International Institute for Sustainable Development, approximately 34% of marine fish stocks are already exploited beyond sustainable levels. India had also sought "special and differential rights" to protect the lives and livelihood of fishermen and adequate time to put in place the implementation of disciplines for over or under-fishing.

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