WTO meet: India to pitch for permanent solution for Food Security

At the World Trade Organization's 12th ministerial meeting, which begins on Sunday, India will press for a permanent solution to the issue of public stock holding of grains for food security programmes, as well as vigorously defend the interests of farmers and fishermen. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal leads the Indian delegation.

The 12-day ministerial conference (MC) will convene in Geneva on June 12. The meeting comes after a four-year hiatus, against the backdrop of the Ukraine-Russia conflict and an uncertain global economic situation.

It was last held in Argentina in 2017. The World Trade Organization's 164-member MC is the highest decision-making body (WTO).

The meeting's main topics include the WTO's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including a patent waiver; agriculture and food security; WTO reforms; a proposed agreement on fisheries subsidies; and an extension of the moratorium on electronic transmission. Food security and agriculture:

New Delhi will make a pitch for a long-term solution to the problem of public stockholding (PSH) for its food security programmes.

The PSH programme is a policy tool in which the government purchases crops such as rice and wheat from farmers at the minimum support price (MSP), stores them, and distributes them to the poor.