ABSTRACT
During the recent discussions at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), food security remained a contentious issue. The negotiations in the Doha Round have reached a stalemate due to divergent positions taken by member countries. Developing countries are facing problems in implementing food security policies due to provisions given under the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA). These provisions are eroding the policy space for developing countries to provide food security to millions of poor people. Under AoA, if a member country is distributing foodgrains at subsidized rate to poor people, then it is a permissible support under Green Box. However, the procurement of foodgrains from farmers at the administered price comes under Amber Box. Many developing countries like India, China and Pakistan are supporting their farmers through administered prices for different crops. Price support to the agriculture sector comes under Amber Box, and most of developing countries can provide price support or product-specific support up to 10 per cent of the value of production of a specific agricultural product. Due to this limit as well as the illogical methodology for calculating, product-specific support is eroding policy space for developing countries. Given the socio-economic situation prevailing in developing countries and level of agricultural development, there is no viable alternative solution to the public stockholding and thus, there is a need to modify the existing rules of AoA for implementing the food security policy. With this background, the objective of this study is to critically examine the provisions of AoA related to product-specific support and its implications for food security policy in developing countries.
