WTO revises Bali draft to address India's concern on Food Security

The World Trade Organization on 6 December 2013 agreed to allow countries to provide subsidy on staple food crops without any threat of punitive action. The WTO has issued a revised draft of the Bali Package which addresses India's concerns on food security.

The decision has taken during the 9th WTO Ministerial Conference Bal, Indonesia. After tough negotiations over the past four days in the face of India's unrelenting stand on the food security issue, the 159-member WTO reached a historic agreement that will boost global trade by one trillion dollars.

The deal allows nations such as India to fix a Minimum Support Price for farm produce and to sell staple grains to the poor at subsidised rates. It also permits countries to store food grains to meet contingency requirements.
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, was represented the India at the 9th WTO Ministerial Conference. The conference was held in Bali, Indonesia from 3 to 6 December 2013.

About World Trade Organization

WTO was established with the signing of the Marrakesh Agreement/ Marrakesh Declaration at Marrakesh, Morrocco in 1994. WTO came up as a replacement of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). GATT was overseeing the rules of commerce since 1948. GATT covered trade in goods, whereas WTO deals with trade of inventions, designs and services too.