New Delhi (ABC Live): The Members of World Trade Organization have raised questions over India\u2019s export subsidies on sugar and other farm trade programmes.<\/p>\n
India\u2019s new support programme for sugar sparked comment among a number of delegations with some urging India to remove immediately what they described as export subsidies that will potentially impact world trade, when WTO members met as the Agriculture Committee on 21 March 2014.<\/p>\n
The discussion was about one of 31 sets of\u00a0questions and answers<\/a>, a key part of the agenda of the committee, whose major responsibility is to oversee the present Agriculture Agreement and members\u2019 commitments in agriculture. (The questions can be found in document\u00a0G\/AG\/W\/119\u00a0(pdf).)<\/p>\n The largest numbers of comments from delegations were on\u00a0India\u2019s sugar programme<\/a>. The topics that also aroused interest included Costa Rica\u2019s on-going breach of its domestic support limit resulting from its guaranteed rice prices and its\u00a0intention to correct this breach in 2015<\/a>\u00a0(the US said it appreciated the fact that Costa Rica had shared information consistently but that breaches of commitments are always a serious concern), Thailand\u2019s rice support programme known as \u201cpaddy pledging\u201d, Canada\u2019s reclassification of pizza toppings to prevent traders avoiding import duties, and India\u2019s domestic support for rice and wheat and its food security programme. (See details\u00a0below<\/a>)<\/p>\n Meanwhile, members continued their work on\u00a0implementing the decisions and a declaration from the December 2013 Bali Ministerial Conference<\/a>, and they discussed information that members shared on their policies, including the latest US Farm Bill, and trends in trade and agricultural trade policies.<\/p>\n