Context:
WTO’s member questioned India’s farm input subsidies
Agreement on Agriculture:
- Genesis – Negotiated at the Uruguay round and ratified in Marrakesh (Morocco) in 1994.
- Provisions –
- Market Access – Includes tariffication, tariff reduction and access opportunities.
- Tariffication – 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
- 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 Types of Boxes:
- In WTO terminology, subsidies in general are identified by “boxes”
- Amber Box – Trade distorting subsidies
- WTO calls members for committing to reduce their trade-distorting domestic supports that fall into the amber box.
- Blue Box – Support that would normally be in the amber box, is placed in the blue box if it also requires farmers to limit production.
- Green Box – Includes government funded subsidies which do not distort trade or cause minimal distortion.
Source: Times of India
Previous Year Question
Consider the following statements:
1. India has ratified the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of WTO.
2. TFA is a part of WTO’s Bali Ministerial Package of 2013.
3. TFA came into force in January 2016.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
[UPSC Civil Service Exam – 2017 Prelims]
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 1 and 3 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (a)
Explanation:
Statement 3 is not correct. TFA came into force in February 2017 and not in 2016.
