- India invoked the World Trade Organization (WTO) peace clause for the purpose of providing assistance to farmers in the 2022-23 marketing year for food security.
- India has informed WTO that it has The minimum limit specified under the Agreement on Agriculture (AOA) for rice has been exceeded.
- The value of rice production in India in the year 2022-23 was $52.8 billion, during which subsidy of $6.39 billion was given to farmers. This means that rice subsidy in India was 12 percent of the value of production, thereby violating global trade rules.
- According to this, the 10 percent domestic support limit has been violated. No action can be taken against India for this violation because India has invoked the “peace clause”.
- The purpose of its implementation is “to meet the household food security needs of India’s poor and vulnerable populations, and not to facilitate trade”.
Peace clause
- It is a term used by trade negotiators to refer to Article 13 of the WTO’s Agreement on Agriculture.
- It was established by WTO at the Bali Ministerial Meeting in December 2013.
- It provides immunity to developing countries from the challenges of violating limits for wheat and rice.
- It stipulates that no country will be legally prevented from providing food security programs for its own people, even if the subsidies violate limits specified in the WTO Agreement on Agriculture.
- India, Indonesia, South Africa and China are among the 80 WTO member countries. Who have called for launching text-based negotiations to find a permanent solution on Public Stockholding (PSH) for food security.