NEW DELHI: India is negotiating with Brazil to resolve a sugar dispute at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The Ministry of Commerce is coordinating with concerned departments for the same, according to PTI. India is following a similar process for other complaints of the sugar dispute at the WTO.
In 2019, Brazil, Australia and Guatemala dragged India into the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism alleging that India’s sugar subsidies to farmers are inconsistent with global trade rules. The Department of Commerce, it is learnt, is coordinating with all concerned ministries to arrive at possible alternatives, according to PTI.
This issue gathered momentum as a WTO dispute settlement panel on December 14, 2021, ruled that India’s support measures for the sugar sector are inconsistent with the global trade norms.
In January 2022, India appealed against the panel’s ruling at the WTO’s appellate body, which is the final authority on such trade disputes. Brazil is the largest producer and exporter of sugar in the world, while India is the second.
Brazil, Australia and Guatemala, which are members of the WTO, had complained that India’s support measures to sugarcane producers exceed the de minimis level of 10 per cent of the total value of sugarcane production, which according to them was inconsistent with the WTO’s Agreement on Agriculture.
‘India’s sugar subsidies break global trade rules’
In 2019, Brazil, Australia and Guatemala dragged India into the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism alleging that India’s sugar subsidies to farmers are inconsistent with global trade rules.
India’s support measures to sugarcane producers exceed the de minimis level of 10 per cent of the total production value, they said.