G33 Ministerial Meeting In Geneva:
At the G33 Ministerial Meeting in Geneva, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal expressed his concerns over the stalemate in reaching a permanent solution on the issue of public stockholding and special safeguard mechanism (SSM) for food security.
- The G33 Ministerial Meeting was held on the sidelines of the 12th World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting in the Swiss town of Geneva.
- The G33 (or the Friends of Special Products in agriculture) is a coalition of developing and least developed countries.
- Despite the name, there are currently 48 member nations including China, Cuba, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan etc.
It was established prior to the 2003 Cancun ministerial conference, that have coordinated during the Doha Round of World Trade Organization negotiations, specifically in regard to agriculture. - Dominated by India, The group has “defensive” concerns regarding agriculture in relation to World Trade Organization negotiations, and seeks to limit the degree of market opening required of developing countries.
