India says no new deal at WTO without major US concession
published by, Samstuti Nath
Last updated: February 28, 2024, 19:48 IST
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Union Minister Piyush Goyal said, the entire functioning of WTO is at a standstill at this time (file photo)
New agreements require full agreement among WTO’s 164 member countries, according to the body’s rules.
India will finalize new deals at the WTO ministerial meeting only if the United States stops blocking an agreement on the dispute settlement mechanism, New Delhi’s trade minister said on Wednesday.
Delegates are hoping for progress on issues such as fisheries and agriculture at the 13th WTO ministerial meeting underway in Abu Dhabi.
But Indian Minister Piyush Goyal told AFP on the sidelines of the talks that his country would not “finalize” any new agreement without progress on a dispute-settlement mechanism.
“It is important that the first issue we settle is that there should be an appellate body and some countries are not allowing that to happen.”
Washington halted WTO dispute settlement in 2019 after blocking for years the appointment of new judges to the WTO’s appeals court.
Goyal said, “At present the entire functioning of WTO is at a standstill.”
New agreements require full agreement among WTO’s 164 member countries, according to the body’s rules.
He said, “I think it is important that the issues which belong to the past and have been pending for many years should be addressed first and among them the appellate body is the most important.”
“Only then can we consider new other issues in the future.”
Washington had accused the Appellate Body of over-interpreting WTO rules and said judges’ decisions should not go against countries’ national security.
US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said this week that it is now pushing for a dispute settlement reform that would create a “fair” system and not repeat the flaws of the previous body.
During the last WTO Ministerial Conference in 2022, member countries committed to discuss the dispute settlement system “with a view to having a fully operational system by 2024”.
But there has been little progress, causing frustration ahead of Donald Trump’s potential re-election as US president in November.
Asked whether the issue should have been resolved before the Abu Dhabi conference, Goyal said: “It should have been resolved, because until that is resolved, every other decision is just a paper decision.” is” which cannot be implemented.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – AFP)
