World Trade Organisation's future in doubt after India blocks trade deal

World Trade Organisation's future in doubt after India blocks trade deal
Global agreement collapses as Narendra Modi insists on food subsidy and stockpiling concessions for developing countries

The future of the World Trade Organisation has been thrown into doubt after eleventh-hour attempts to salvage a global trade deal collapsed.

Talks broke down after India's refusal to back a deal unless it included concessions allowing developing countries freedom to subsidise and stockpile food.

An agreement on the deal, centred on loosening global customs rules, had been reached in Bali in December, with a deadline of midnight on Thursday to ratify it. But it was scuppered after the WTO's 160 members failed to reach agreement over India's demands.

It would have been the first global trade deal reached by the Geneva-based institution since it was founded almost two decades ago. The last-minute failure to reach agreement prompted questions over the very existence of the WTO and how it will survive the deadlock.

Admitting defeat, Roberto Azevêdo, the director general, was candid about the challenges facing WTO. Despite intense negotiations, disagreement between members had not been resolved, he said.

"We have not been able to find a solution that would allow us to bridge that gap. We tried everything we could. But it has not proved possible," he said. "The fact we do not have a conclusion means that we are entering a new phase in our work – a phase which strikes me as being full of uncertainties."

Speaking about the future of the organisation, Azevêdo said: "What this means for the WTO will be in the hands of the members. I think we should take the time to reflect and come back in September."

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/01/wto-future-doubt-india-blocks-deal