WTO needs to look at farm subsidy issue with open mind: Sitharaman

World Trade Organisation (WTO) should look at the issue of farm subsidies with an open mind as it impacts the food security needs of emerging economies in the backdrop of Covid pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday. Speaking at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Governor's seminar on 'Policies to support Asia's rebound' at Incheonin South Korea, Sitharaman said sooner a solution is found out by the WTO, the better it would be for the world."Since WTO was founded, there has been a grievance with respect to the export of agricultural products and generally in trade, the voice of the Global South and emerging markets has not been heard at par with that of the developed countries," she said. There has to be a greater digital integration of economies during the ongoing re-globalisation. There has to be digital globalisation & countries need their systems to talk to each other's technological platforms, she said. As part of permanent solution, India has asked for measures like amendments in the formula to calculate the food subsidy cap and inclusion of programmes implemented after 2013 under the ambit of 'Peace Clause'.

India's systemic long-term reforms facilitated by digital public infrastructure enabled timely conditional cash transfers during the pandemic. Other countries were busy in writing cheques whereas we transferred money directly into bank accounts.

- Smt @nsitharaman (1/n) pic.twitter.com/DgzjERPtPh

— NSitharamanOffice (@nsitharamanoffc) May 3, 2023

The 'Global South' largely refers to countries in Asia, Africa and South America. Subsidies for agriculture and poor farmers in developing countries were not counted at all and were frozen, she said, adding that in context of Covid and Russia-Ukraine war, food and fertilizer security have become important.