Today’s fertiliser shortage could become tomorrow’s food crisis, commerce minister Piyush Goyal said at the G20 trade ministers’ meeting in Milwaukee, and on its sidelines he also held a “productive” discussion with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on early conclusion of the proposed India-US trade deal.
India and the US are engaged in talks to finalise the proposed interim bilateral trade agreement (BTA) in line with the joint statement issued on February 7. Goyal said during the Covid-19 pandemic, India ensured food security for over 1.4 billion citizens and supplied foodgrains to several countries in need. He noted that over 800 million people in India are currently being provided foodgrains free of cost. Goyal also referred to existing mechanisms, including the G20 Agricultural Market Information System, established in 2011, and the exemption of purchases by the World Food Programme from export restrictions, adopted at the 12th Ministerial Conference of the WTO.
Had a productive discussion with USTR Greer towards early conclusion of a mutually beneficial interim agreement under the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement,” Goyal said in a post on X. “We also exchanged views on G20 deliberations under US Chairship,” Goyal said in the post. “Ensuring food security for all and creating greater opportunities for farmers are central to India’s policy and food must never be used as an instrument of pressure against any country,” a commerce ministry’s statement quoted minister as saying on Thursday. India maintains public stockholding (PSH), procures from small and marginal farmers and, in the event of a harvest shortfall, adopts temporary and transparent measures to ensure the availability and affordability of food, Goyal said. “These measures are recognised under the WTO, including through the Bali Ministerial Decision and the Geneva Ministerial Declaration,” the statement quoting him said.
“Met USTR Jamieson Greer, @USTradeRep, on the sidelines of the G20 Trade Ministers’ Meeting in Milwaukee. they could not sign the agreement after the US Supreme Court invalidated the legal basis for the preferential tariff mechanism Washington had offered Although the two had reached a framework for an interim BTA in February. India is now awaiting a preferential tariff framework that provides competitive access for its exporters vis-a-vis competing countries. He also participated in the opening day of the G20 trade ministers’ meeting, hosted under the United States G20 Presidency. Speaking at the session on food and trade, Goyal thanked the Presidency for placing food at the centre of the discussions. He called for a clear distinction between measures taken to ensure food security and coercive trade actions. He reaffirmed India’s commitment to a rules-based, fair, non-discriminatory, equitable, transparent, open, inclusive and multilateral trading system, with the WTO at its core. At the meeting, the ministers reached consensus on the outcome document, ‘G20 Statement on the Weaponization of Food through Coercive Trade Actions’, and expressed their intent to continue cooperation on the subject. On the sidelines of the meeting, Goyal held several bilateral meetings with participating ministers from various countries, including Brazil, the EU, the UK, Mexico, Poland and the US. The minister also attended the welcome dinner hosted by Greer at the Milwaukee Art Museum.
Earlier in the day, Goyal joined G20 trade ministers and Greer on a visit to the Rockwell Automation office and factory in Mequon, Wisconsin. Countries of the Global South are among the most adversely impacted by the food, fuel and fertiliser crises caused by global conflicts, and today’s fertiliser shortage could become tomorrow’s food crisis, the minister added.
