The same sauce for gander and goose at the WTO.

India is being vilified by the US and EU for the collapse of the WTO talks at Geneva to agree on a Trade Facilitation deal which would ease trade by reducing customs and other barriers to free trade. The previous Congress government had agreed to the deal last December in Bali on condition that food subsidy will continue as at present, to be reviewed in 4 years time in 2017. At present India is allowed to subsidise up to 10% of the total value of food it produces, calculated at 1986-88 prices. India wants the calculation to made at the higher prices prevalent today, which is logical. The EU and the US are incensed because India has linked free trade with agriculture which they want to negotiate separately. They must think everyone is stupid because trade in agricultural commodities is huge. Ask Cargill, a US company. India was allowed to continue building stockpiles of food under a ' peace clause ' which would last till 2017 by which time a permanent solution would be negotiated. But what if the perfidious EU and the US said " No ". That surely is also a permanent solution. Is that why the Congress agreed to the deal? After 4 years stockpiles would have to be reduced. The Minimum Support Price paid to farmers would drop and prices of food will go up, causing immense anger, in time for the general elections in 2019. Part of the Congress scorched earth policy. India wants the ' peace clause ' to be permanent unless a solution to our satisfaction is agreed. We know that the EU and the US will never negotiate honorably so there is nothing wrong in standing up to them for our interests. Trouble is that we are on the defensive when we should be attacking. The government should appoint experts to study every detail of the EU Common Agricultural Policy which pays out 57.5 billion Euros, which is 43% of the total budget of 132.8 billion Euros, to farmers across the EU. The next big expense is 47 billion Euros, known as ' cohesion funds ', paid out in regional aid. The CAP budget has 2 pillars of which pillar one is 70% and comprises direct payments and price support to farmers. Pillar 2 is rural development which is surely another name for more money to farmers. The US is said to spend $14 billion in farming subsidies in 2012 but our experts should look at every line of the US budget to see whether they are hiding further subsidies under environmental improvement or compensations paid for land degradation in such activities as fracking. Unlike the World Bank and the IMF, which are stitched up by the EU and the US, every country, regardless of size, has an equal voting power in the WTO. Just tell the bully boys, and girls, what is sauce for the gander is also sauce for the goose.