The Crossbill News Desk
India has come under international scrutiny at the World Trade Organization (WTO) after failing to respond to a large number of farm trade-related queries that have been pending for over a decade.
According to a report by Mint, India now holds the distinction of having the longest list of unanswered queries among all WTO member nations.
The latest secretariat report, released on September 8, lists 186 unanswered questions from 2013 to 2023, along with 51 from 2024, of which India has 30 pending as of September 5, Mint reported.
In contrast, China has 20 pending queries, Pakistan five, and Bangladesh two.
Most of the queries were raised by the United States, accounting for 157 questions, followed by Canada with 61, Australia with 40, and Japan with 13.
The majority of these questions relate to India’s minimum support price (MSP) procurement, public stockholding for food security, sugar export incentives, cotton support programs, and overdue notifications under the WTO Agreement on Agriculture.
Trading partners have repeatedly sought clarifications from India, but responses remain outstanding.
“While India maintains that its subsidy and procurement programmes are crucial for ensuring food security and protecting small farmers, members from the developed economies view its delayed responses as a challenge to transparency and a potential dent in confidence in the multilateral trading system,” the report noted.
A government official told Mint that the measures taken by India “are fully compliant with our WTO commitments, and we remain committed to transparency while safeguarding the interests of our agricultural community.”
New Delhi has also argued that richer countries continue to operate opaque domestic support programs that distort global farm trade far more than similar schemes in developing economies.
The WTO report, as cited by Mint, indicates that India has also actively pressed other countries, such as the US and European Union, seeking clarity on their policies regarding farm subsidies; Canada and Australia on dairy market access; and explanations from Brazil on sugar support.
India operates one of the world’s largest food security systems through the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) and the broader National Food Security Act (NFSA), which provides subsidized grains to approximately 800 million people via the public distribution system.
In addition, the government supports farmers through MSP programs, input subsidies, and fertilizer and electricity subsidies.
The growing list of pending queries highlights increasing concerns about India’s adherence to WTO’s transparency standards and its impact on the global trade system, as developed economies continue to push for clearer accountability.
According to a report by Mint, India now holds the distinction of having the longest list of unanswered queries among all WTO member nations.
The latest secretariat report, released on September 8, lists 186 unanswered questions from 2013 to 2023, along with 51 from 2024, of which India has 30 pending as of September 5, Mint reported.
In contrast, China has 20 pending queries, Pakistan five, and Bangladesh two.
Most of the queries were raised by the United States, accounting for 157 questions, followed by Canada with 61, Australia with 40, and Japan with 13.
The majority of these questions relate to India’s minimum support price (MSP) procurement, public stockholding for food security, sugar export incentives, cotton support programs, and overdue notifications under the WTO Agreement on Agriculture.
Trading partners have repeatedly sought clarifications from India, but responses remain outstanding.
“While India maintains that its subsidy and procurement programmes are crucial for ensuring food security and protecting small farmers, members from the developed economies view its delayed responses as a challenge to transparency and a potential dent in confidence in the multilateral trading system,” the report noted.
A government official told Mint that the measures taken by India “are fully compliant with our WTO commitments, and we remain committed to transparency while safeguarding the interests of our agricultural community.”
New Delhi has also argued that richer countries continue to operate opaque domestic support programs that distort global farm trade far more than similar schemes in developing economies.
The WTO report, as cited by Mint, indicates that India has also actively pressed other countries, such as the US and European Union, seeking clarity on their policies regarding farm subsidies; Canada and Australia on dairy market access; and explanations from Brazil on sugar support.
India operates one of the world’s largest food security systems through the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) and the broader National Food Security Act (NFSA), which provides subsidized grains to approximately 800 million people via the public distribution system.
In addition, the government supports farmers through MSP programs, input subsidies, and fertilizer and electricity subsidies.
The growing list of pending queries highlights increasing concerns about India’s adherence to WTO’s transparency standards and its impact on the global trade system, as developed economies continue to push for clearer accountability.
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