India’s Sugar Export Subsidies

Subject – Economy

Context – WTO dispute panel rules against India’s sugar export subsidies

Concept –

A World Trade Organisation (WTO) panel has ruled against India’s sugar export subsidy and domestic support to sugarcane growers in a dispute filed by Australia, Brazil and Guatemala. India has said that it will appeal against the verdict.
Australia, Brazil and Guatemala had challenged some of India’s policy measures in the sugar sector at the WTO dispute panel in 2019. The countries complained that domestic support provided by India to sugarcane producers was in excess of the limit allowed by the WTO and India provides prohibited export subsidies to sugar mills.
In its report, the panel observed that for five consecutive sugar seasons, from 2014-15 to 2018-19, India provided non-exempt product-specific domestic support to sugarcane producers in excess of the permitted level of 10 per cent of the total value of sugarcane production.
- As a result, the panel found that India was acting inconsistently with its obligations under the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA).

To know about Agreement on Agriculture at WTO, please refer September 2021 DPN.