Thailand has replaced its Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Pimchanok Vonkorpon Pitfield, following strong objections from India regarding her comments on New Delhi’s rice procurement program.
Sources revealed that India raised a formal protest against the Thai envoy’s remarks at the WTO, where she accused India of utilizing subsidized rice acquired for public distribution systems to dominate the export market. The comments were seen as a critique of India’s public stockholding program.
Pimchanok Vonkorpon Pitfield has been replaced by the Thai Foreign Secretary.
India has been grappling with the issue of subsidy caps imposed by the WTO, calculated based on prices set in 1986-88. India’s procurement for its food program has breached the 10 percent ceiling of the value of production permitted as support.
Contrary to the claims made by the former Thai Ambassador, her statements were inaccurate, particularly her accusation that India exported 40 percent of rice acquired for the Public Distribution System (PDS).
The global community convened in Abu Dhabi for the 13th Ministerial Conference of the WTO, starting on February 26, to deliberate on global trade rules. During the conference, India emphasized the importance of having all policy options available for WTO members to promote digital industrialization.
According to a Ministry of Commerce and Industry press release, India stressed that currently, a few firms based in developed countries dominate the global landscape of e-commerce. India explained that there was a huge digital chasm between developed and developing countries, which makes it challenging to increase the participation of developing countries in global e-commerce.
The ongoing discussions at the conference aim to finalize a package of agreements for adoption. As of now, ministers are still engaged in discussions regarding the proposed agreements.
Established three decades ago, the WTO currently has 166 member countries, including India. This year, Timor-Leste and Comoros have joined as new members. The 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) took place in Geneva from June 12-17, 2022.
(Inputs from ANI)