India, emerging markets insist on special treatment at WTO

25 Feb '19

2 min read

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India, China, South Africa and Venezuela have insisted on continuing with the special and differential (S&D) treatment for developing nations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), countering US efforts for equal treatment for all members. Self-declaration of developing member status had been a long-standing practice and best serves WTO objectives, the four nations said.

In a paper submitted recently to WTO, the nations said the persistence of the enormous development divide between the developing and developed members of the WTO is reflected on a wide range of indicators like levels of economic development, per capita gross domestic product (GDP), poverty levels, levels of under-nourishment, production and employment in the agriculture sector.

“Against this background, recent attempts by some members to selectively employ certain economic and trade data to deny the persistence of the divide between developing and developed members, and to demand the former to abide by absolute ‘reciprocity’ in the interest of ‘fairness’ are profoundly disingenuous," Indian media outlets reported quoting the paper.

Under the S&D provisions, developing countries get longer time periods for implementing WTO agreements and commitments.

India’s commerce secretary Anup Wadhawan made a strong case for continuing with the S&D measures for developing countries at the mini-ministerial of trade ministers, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum at Davos in January.

In his speech at the WTO Ministerial in Buenos Aires in December 2017, United States Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer had criticized the S&D treatment enjoyed by large developing countries like India. (DS)

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