Q.6 Briefly discuss the ‘Nairobi Package’ of the WTO’s 10th Ministerial Conference.

Ans. At the 10th Ministerial Conference of the WTO, held in Nairobi, Kenya

by late December 2015, the following major decisions were reached which is popularly known as the Nairobi Package—

• Amidst divergent opinions, a “strong commitment of all Members to advance negotiations on the remaining Doha issues”.

• India sought and succeeded in obtaining a decision on ‘Public Stockholding for Food Security Purposes’. The decision commits members to engage constructively in finding a permanent solution to this issue.

• Developing countries to avail the SSM (Special Safeguard Mechanism) for agricultural products though members to continue negotiations on it.

• Elimination of agricultural export subsidies agreed upon—differential treatment for developing countries such as a longer phase-out period for transportation and marketing export subsidies for exporting agricultural products. Developed countries to remove export subsidies immediately, except for a few agricultural products, and developing countries will do so by 2018.

• Developing countries will keep the flexibility to cover marketing and transport subsidies for agriculture exports until the end of 2023.

• Provision to prevent ‘ever-greening’ of patents in the pharmaceuticals sector extended—to help in an affordable and accessible supply of generic medicines.

• Preferential treatment for LDC services providers. India was already doing so.

• No decision on fisheries subsidies—including India, several other countries (China, Egypt, South Africa, Korea and Saudi Arabia, etc) were opposed to disciplining rules on fisheries subsidies due to the lack of clarity.

• Giving greater power to WTO related to Anti-dumping was opposed by the members (including India)—no decision came on it.

• Duty-free market (no customs) for IT products (201 items) decided. This will be available to all WTO members (even to India, which was not party to the agreement).

Consensus cannot be reached regarding introducing new issues (global value chain, e-commerce, competition laws, labour, environment and investments) in the negotiation—the move was supported by the developed countries. The Package acknowledges that such issues can not be introduced without all members agreeing on them.