India believes its measures are consistent with obligations under WTO agreements: Centre

The ministry said that India believes that its measures are consistent with its obligations under the WTO agreements.

New Delhi: There would be no impact of the World Trade Organization (WTO) panel’s findings on Sugar on any of India’s existing and ongoing policy measures in the sugar sector, informed Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The ministry said that India believes that its measures are consistent with its obligations under the WTO agreements.

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In an official release, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said that India has initiated all measures necessary to protect its interest and file an appeal at the WTO against the report, to protect the interests of its farmers.

“It may be noted that in 2019, Australia, Brazil and Guatemala had challenged some of India’s policy measures in the sugar sector, at the WTO. They had wrongly claimed that domestic support provided by India to sugarcane producers is in excess of the limit allowed by the WTO and that India provides prohibited export subsidies to sugar mills,” it noted.

The Panel issued its report on 14 December 2021 in which it has made certain erroneous findings of our schemes to support sugarcane producers and exports.

The findings of the panel are completely unacceptable to India. The panel’s findings are unreasonable and not supported by the WTO rules. The Panel has also evaded key issues which it was obliged to determine. Similarly, the panel’s findings on alleged export subsidies undermine logic and rationale, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said.