India rejects Australia’s high sugar subsidy claims at WTO

New Delhi: India has rejected at the World Trade Organization (WTO), Australia’s counter notification which claims that India had exceeded its 10% product-specific de minimis entitlement for sugar for the last 11 years. Stating that neither the government nor state agencies procure sugar from the market and that all purchases are done by private sugar companies, New Delhi said that there is no appropriate basis for any counter notification.

This was the third counter-notification addressing India’s market price support (MPS) for sugar as the US too had submitted similar communications earlier along with Australia.

India reiterated its stance that the premises underlying the prior counter-notifications were incorrect, according to the official.

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Australia referring to the WTO panel in the India sugar and sugarcane dispute which found in 2021 that India’s sugar support regime was inconsistent with its WTO obligations and subsidies were in excess of levels permitted under WTO rules.

However, India noted that it did not accept the panel’s findings in the sugar dispute and had appealed them in 2021.

“It therefore did not consider those findings to be an appropriate basis for a counter-notification,” the official said.Also read | India, 17 others reserve right to participate in Russia’s dispute with EU

Canberra also said that India remains the world’s second-largest sugar producer, accounting for around 18% of global sugar production between 2021-2025, claiming that India’s system of market price support has helped it maintain its position as a key global player in sugar production and trade.