TWN Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Oct26/29)
30 October 2026
Third World Network

WTO: US softening its stance on permanent solution on PSH?
Published in SUNS #10544 dated 29 October 2026

Geneva, 28 Oct (D. Ravi Kanth) -- The United States appeared to be softening its stance on negotiating a permanent solution for public stockholding (PSH) programmes for food security in developing countries during a discussion at the Doha agriculture negotiating body on 27 October.

Washington had apparently indicated its willingness to consider negotiating the permanent solution on PSH alongside other issues in the domestic support pillar, said people familiar with the development.

At a meeting on 27 October of the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session, also referred to as the Doha agriculture negotiating body, the issue of PSH came to the forefront.

A WTO Secretariat official at the Agriculture and Commodities Division presented the history of the negotiations on the issue, followed by a detailed presentation by the Indian trade envoy, Ambassador Senthil Pandian, said people familiar with the discussions.

Before discussing the permanent solution on PSH, members addressed several other unfinished issues in the export competition pillar, including export credits, food aid, and state trading enterprises.

The European Union, Switzerland, on behalf of the G10 farm-defensive countries, and Canada, among others, apparently highlighted the lack of progress on the outstanding issues in the export competition pillar, even though export subsidies had been eliminated, said an Asian trade official who asked not to be quoted.

Egypt, on behalf of the net food-importing developing countries, also appeared to have made clear that the mandated issues in the export competition pillar must be fully addressed, said people familiar with the discussions.

PSH

Following the WTO agriculture division official's presentation on the history of the negotiations on the PSH issue, the Indian trade envoy, Ambassador Pandian, apparently focused on the unfulfilled ministerial mandates concerning the permanent solution on PSH.

India apparently explicitly called for implementing the mandates on PSH. The Indian trade envoy stated that the issue had to be resolved in accordance with the mandates, which were distinctly different from the negotiations on other issues, said an African trade official who asked not to be quoted.

The Indian trade envoy also pointed out that the issue of past mandates, including the permanent solution on PSH, had reportedly figured during the WTO reform discussions, the official said.

A Secretariat official at the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) had confirmed that the PSH issue had also figured during the WTO reform discussions, the official said.

PAST MANDATES

During the discussion on PSH on 27 October, the United States seemingly indicated that it was willing to consider a permanent solution for PSH programmes alongside other issues in the domestic support pillar, said people familiar with the discussions.

Until now, Washington had vehemently opposed the permanent solution on PSH mandated in the Doha agriculture negotiations since the WTO's ninth ministerial conference, held in Bali, Indonesia, in December 2013.

The US had blocked the permanent solution on PSH at the WTO's 10th ministerial conference (MC10) in Nairobi, Kenya, in December 2015, under the direction of former US Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Michael Froman, said people familiar with the negotiations.

Subsequently, former USTR Ambassador Robert Lighthizer reportedly advised his agriculture negotiator to block the entire agriculture agenda prepared by the Minister-Facilitator, Ambassador Amina Mohamed of Kenya, on grounds that it contained a revised proposal on the permanent solution on PSH, which had been submitted by the Indian delegate, Ambassador J S Deepak, at the WTO's 11th ministerial conference (MC11) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in December 2017.

The US, along with the Cairns Group of farm-exporting countries, repeated its opposition at the WTO's 12th ministerial conference (MC12) in Geneva in June 2022 and at the WTO's 13th ministerial conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi in February-March 2024, said people familiar with the discussions.

However, the US delegate apparently made an interesting intervention at the meeting on 27 October, seemingly backtracking on the "very harsh" position adopted until now, said a farm trade negotiator who preferred not to be quoted.

While suggesting that PSH programmes adversely affected its rice sector, as the de minimis subsidies for rice were trade-distorting, the US said that it believed a permanent solution could be found only in the context of the broader domestic support negotiations, the negotiator said.

Clearly, the US had not expressed this position earlier during the discussions on the permanent solution on PSH, the negotiator said.

To recall, the US had reportedly said that it was a mistake to have adopted the interim Bali decision on PSH programmes, which was later strengthened in 2014, said people familiar with the discussions.

Nigeria appeared to have firmly supported the Indian stance on the permanent solution, suggesting that when the mandate was clear, it would not be incorrect to say that the solution had to be found in the broader context, as indicated by the US, said an African trade official who asked not to be quoted.

The Nigerian negotiator apparently emphasized that the African Group's observations and interventions should be taken seriously, as the Group represents 46 African countries, the trade official said.

Interestingly, while presenting the historical account of the negotiations on PSH, the Secretariat also referred to some of the proposals made by the Russian Federation and other countries in the past, which had proposed flexibility in the permanent solution for countries that were not major exporters, the official said.

Nigeria also expressed concern over the views apparently expressed by Costa Rica, which referred to export share, especially exports from stocks, and the role of state trading enterprises - issues that come under the purview of the export competition pillar.

The Nigerian trade official said somewhat caustically that some countries were bringing the third pillar of export competition into the process of finalizing the permanent solution on PSH, the official said.

Indonesia supported India and Nigeria, stressing that a permanent solution on PSH programmes was very important, and echoed the proposal (JOB/AG/229) submitted by 80 countries in the run-up to MC12, said an Asian official who asked not to be quoted.

The co-sponsors of the proposal (JOB/AG/229) on the permanent solution on PSH programmes included Antigua and Barbuda; Barbados; Belize; Benin; Bolivia, Plurinational State of; Botswana; China; Congo; Cote D'Ivoire; Cuba; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Grenada; Guyana; Haiti; Honduras; India; Indonesia; Jamaica; Kenya; Madagascar; Mauritius; Mongolia; Mozambique; Nicaragua; Nigeria; Pakistan; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and Grenadines; Senegal; Sri Lanka; Suriname; Tanzania; Trinidad and Tobago; Turkey; Uganda; Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of; Zambia; and Zimbabwe.

The proposed ministerial decision on the permanent solution on PSH had been opposed by the US, the European Union, and the Cairns Group, led by Australia, during meetings of the Doha agriculture negotiating body over the past one year.

In their nine-page restricted proposal (JOB/AG/229), the 80 co-sponsors stated unambiguously in the chapeau that "having regard to paragraph 1 of Article IX of the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization" and "taking note of the Ministerial Decision of 7 December 2013 (WT/MIN(13)/38 - WT/L/913), the General Council Decision of 27 November 2014 (WT/L/939) and the Ministerial Decision of 21 December 2015 (WT/MIN(15)/44 - WT/L/979), the ministers "recognizing the importance of public stockholding for food security purposes for developing country Members, including Least-Developed and Net Food Importing Developing Countries (NFIDCs)" decide as follows:

1. Members agree to a permanent solution as set out in this Decision, for the use of public stockholding for food security purposes by developing country Members.

2. Notwithstanding any provision of the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA), domestic support provided by a developing country Member pursuant to public stockholding programmes for food security purposes, shall be deemed to be in compliance with Articles 3.2, 6.3 and 7.2(b) of the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA), provided that the conditions set out in paragraphs 5 to 9 of this Decision are met.

3. Where public stockholding programmes for food security purposes of a developing country Member include programmes under which stocks of foodstuffs are acquired and released at administered prices, then, for the purposes of footnote 5 of Annex 2, the Aggregate Measurement of Support (AMS) shall be calculated based on the actual quantity of foodstuffs acquired at administered prices, and the external reference price in this regard shall be either of the following:

(a) the three-year average price (f.o.b for a net exporter or c.i.f for a net importer) based on the preceding five- year period excluding the highest and the lowest entry for that product; or

(b) adjusted for excessive inflation as per the methodology given in Annex Z.

4.1. This Decision does not preclude developing country Members from introducing public stockholding programmes for food security purposes in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Agreement on Agriculture.

4.2. For greater clarity, paragraph 5 to 9 of this Decision applies when a developing country Member concerned exceeds the applicable Aggregate Measurement of Support (AMS) limits under the AoA, i.e., the Member's Bound Total AMS or the de minimis level, as applicable, as a result of the public stockholding programmes for food security purposes covered under paragraph 2 of this Decision.

[The de minimis limit for developing countries is 10% as per the Agreement on Agriculture. India has already breached the 10% limit for rice and sought protection under the perpetual "peace clause"].

ANTI-CIRCUMVENTION/SAFEGUARDS

5.1. Stocks acquired under public stockholding programmes for food security purposes covered under paragraph 2 of this Decision shall not substantially distort trade or adversely affect the food security of other Members.

5.2. Upon reference to the Understanding of rules and procedures governing the settlement of disputes (DSU), subparagraph 5.1 shall be applied only in accordance in full conformity with the meanings provided under relevant provisions of Part III, Part VIII, and Article 31 of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures.

6. A developing country Member shall endeavor not to export from acquired stocks, except for the purposes of international food aid, or for non-commercial humanitarian purposes, or when requested by Net Food Importing Developing Countries and least developed countries in the same geographic region or in any other region, or any member facing food shortages and higher food inflation during an international food crisis.

The EU sought to know about follow-up sessions on PSH and other issues. Apparently, the chair of the Special Session, Ambassador Ali Sarfraz Hussain of Pakistan, put the question back to delegates in the room, suggesting that it was for members to decide. +