China and South Africa have expressed backing to India’s proposal to safeguard the right of special provisions for developing countries, which have been challenged by the US.
India has convened a WTO (World Trade Organization) ministerial meeting of 16 developing and six least developed countries starting today. India’s proposal, that seeks to amend laws on unilateral action by members on trade issues, was circulated in Geneva among the 22 member countries who are participating in New Delhi’s mini-ministerial meeting today and tomorrow.
“South Africa and China are excited about our proposal and the meeting,” said an official in the know of the details, adding that India may modify its proposal as per other countries if need be.
These special provisions for developing countries, called special and differential treatment (S&DT) allow them longer time periods to implement agreements and commitments, measures to increase trading opportunities, provisions to safeguard their trade interests
and support to build capacity to handle disputes and implement technical standards.
The US has proposed withdrawal of such special rights and exemptions for emerging economies which are members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Group of 20 (G20), classified as ‘high income’ by the World Bank or account for more than 0.5 per cent of global merchandise trade.