Developing countries participating in the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting in New Delhi on Monday are expected to prioritise discussions on measures to ensure the smooth functioning of the organization’s appellate body for dispute settlements, according to senior officials in the Commerce Ministry.

 

Apart from this, other “serious and grave” challenges faced by the multilateral rule-based trading system will also be taken up as part of the agenda of the two-day meet.

 

So far, ministers of Bangladesh, the Central African Republic and South Africa have confirmed their presence at the meet, while ministerial-level officials will represent the remaining 19 developing and least developed countries.

 

“Increasing” unilateral measures and counter-measures by member countries, as well as deadlock in key areas of negotiations and the impasse in WTO’s appellate body has given rise to demands to reform the organization, according to the Ministry.

 

WTO’s appellate body, a standing body that hears appeals from reports issued by panels in disputes brought by the organization’s members, has shrunk over the last two years from its required strength of seven members to three.

 

This is because the United States has been blocking appointments of the body’s members. By December 2019, the body is expected to have two more vacancies, leaving it with only one member from China.

 

According to the Ministry, such issues “threaten the very existence” of WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism.

 

“As India has also been articulating, the first priority is to resolve the impasse in the appellate body,” said Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan during a briefing Friday. “Without this, the body will cease to be functional,” he added.

 

According to India’s permanent representative to WTO, J S Deepak, leaving this issue unresolved has already caused some cracks in the organization’s dispute settlement mechanism.

 

“Even if, at present, there is one panel of three members, it is taking a year for appeals to be heard, whereas the time is to dispose it (the appeal) off in 90 days,” he said.

 

Another core issue that will be discussed is special and differential treatment for developing countries, which allow them to be treated more favourably by other members.

 

However, countries like the US have sought guidelines to prevent some countries from enjoying the mechanism’s benefits, including longer time periods for implementing agreements and commitments and provisions that require all WTO members to safeguard their trade interests.

 

“The discussion is on some new proposals that are somewhat alarming for developing countries, such as this whole issue of differentiation,” said Wadhawan.

 

While unilateral measures taken by some countries against others are a matter of concern for “most” of the members meeting on Monday, country-specific issues will not be a part of the agenda, according to him.

 

This includes rising imposition of tariffs by countries like the US in its ongoing trade war with China.

 

“We are discussing everything in context of functioning of WTO in the context of ensuring that WTO remains an effective, functional body … It is not a question of discussing any country specific (issue) or anything specific to a set of countries,” he further said.