Eurasia Review
12 December 2014
- RSIS
- Media Mentions
- WTO Breakthrough on Stockpiles: Sustaining Food Security – Analysis
WTO Breakthrough on Stockpiles: Sustaining Food Security – Analysis
The recent WTO agreement, finally concluded after the resolution of an impasse on food stockholding, has been hailed as a landmark for international trade. The deal however also holds great significance for global food security. However, some important concerns remain.
After a year of uncertainty, the WTO trade deal emanating from the Bali Ministerial Meeting in December 2013 has finally come through. The deadlock was broken after the United States and India last month agreed on public stockholding for food security purposes. The agreement is seen as a victory for everyone as much as it is for the WTO in successfully concluding its first-ever pact in its 19-year history.
For the US and other WTO member states who originally blamed India for blocking the trade facilitation agreement (TFA) as a result of the stockpiling dispute, this can be seen as the second best outcome. For India this is the best possible result. The agreement now allows them to take control of their food security concerns – as regulated by their Food Security Act 2013 to ensure food access to at least 400 million poor citizens – as well as enjoy the potential benefits of the TFA.
…Jonatan A. Lassa is a Research Fellow and Maxim Shrestha is an Associate Research Fellow at the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS) at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University.
NTS Centre / Online
