Lok Sabha Question No. 4951 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-26
Subject: WTO Ministerial Declaration
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: A. ARUNMOZHITHEVAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE)

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4951 TO BE ANSWERED ON 26 th  MARCH,2018

## WTO MINISTERIAL DECLARATION

## 4951. SHRI A. ARUNMOZHITHEVAN:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE & INDUSTRY ( वािणÏय एवं उɮयोग मंत्री ) be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the United States has stated that India blocked the ministerial declaration of World Trade Organisation (WTO);
- (b) if  so,  the  details thereof along with the reaction of the Government in this regard; and
- (c) whether it is true that the Marrakesh Agreement was not in India's interest and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

okf.kT; ,oa m|ksx ea=ky; esa jkT; ea=h ¼Jh lh- vkj- pkS/kjh½

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (SHRI C. R. CHAUDHARY)

- a) & b) Yes, Madam.  In the 2018 Trade Policy Agenda and 2017 Annual Report of the President of the United States, it is stated that at the end of the conference (the Eleventh Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization held in Buenos Aires in December 2017), the United States and all Members, except India, were prepared to sign a short Ministerial Declaration.

It  is  a  fact  that  India  could  not  support  the  proposed  draft  of  the  Ministerial Declaration as it excluded or failed to adequately include important issues such as multilateralism,  the  Doha  Development  Agenda  and  special  and  differential treatment of developing countries.

- c)  The  Marrakesh  Agreement  of  1995  established  the  World  Trade  Organization (WTO). The Agreement aims to achieve certain objectives through the multilateral trading  system,  such  as,  raising  living  standards,  ensuring  full  employment, ensuring  a  large  and  steadily  growing  volume  of  real  income  and  effective

demand and expanding the production of, and trade in, goods and services, while allowing  for  the  optimal  use  of  the  world's  resources  in  accordance  with  the objective of sustainable development.

The  Agreement  also  recognizes  the  need  for  positive  efforts  to  ensure  that developing  countries,  and  especially  the  least-developed  among  them,  secure  a share  in  the  growth  in  international  trade  commensurate  with  the  needs  of  their economic development.

With  these  objectives  in  mind,  the  WTO  rules  have  been  framed  and  adopted through a process of consensus. India, like many other developing countries, has joined the consensus while ensuring that its trade interests are protected. The trade rules  of  the  WTO,  its  dispute  settlement  mechanism  and  methods  of  decisionmaking  provide  stability  and  predictability  to  the  global  trading  system.  As  a developing country, India has been able to get the benefit of various special and differential treatment provisions in the WTO Agreements. These special provisions include,  for  example,  longer  time  periods  for  implementing  Agreements  and commitments  or  measures  to increase trading opportunities for developing countries. The opening in the global markets has helped Indian trade both in goods and services.

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