US Softening Hard Stance on Public Stockholding Issue in Bali WTO Ministerial, Indonesia, Nigeria Supports India

[ABS News Service/28.10.2026]

Geneva – The United States appeared to be softening its stance on negotiating a permanent solution for public stockholding programs for food security during a discussion at the Doha agriculture negotiating committee yesterday.

Washington indicated its willingness to consider negotiating the permanent solution alongside other issues in the domestic support pillar, said people familiar with the developments.

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

But the US delegate appeared to backtrack from that position at yesterday’s meeting. While suggesting that PSH programs adversely affected its rice sector, as the de minimis subsidies for rice were distorting, Washington said it believed a permanent solution could be found only in the context of broader domestic support negotiations, a negotiator present at the meeting said.

The United States had not expressed this position during earlier discussions on the permanent solution, the negotiator said.

At the meeting, a WTO agriculture division official presented the history of negotiations on the issue, followed by a detailed presentation by the Indian trade envoy, Ambassador Senthil Pandyan, said people familiar with the discussions.

India 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 mentioned that the issue of past mandates, including the permanent solution, had reportedly figured during the WTO reform discussions, the official said.

A Secretariat official of the trade negotiations committee confirmed that the PSH issues had also figured during the reform discussions, the official said.

Nigeria’s Views

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 United States, 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 it represents 46 African countries, the trade official said.

While presenting the historical account of the discussions, the Secretariat official also referred to some of the proposals made by Russia and other countries in the past, to provide flexibility in the permanent solution for countries that were not major exporters, the official said.

Nigeria also expressed concern about the views expressed by Costa Rica on 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 that some countries were bringing the third pillar, export competition, into the process of finalizing the permanent solution, the official said.

The Nigerian official suggested that the new approach to finalizing the permanent solution was doomed to fail, indicating that an attempt was being made to put the issue in the spanner, the official said.

Indonesia supported India and Nigeria, stressing that a permanent solution for PSH programs was very important and echoing 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.

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 countries, and Canada, among others, 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 expressed concern that mandated issues in the export competition pillar must be fully addressed, said people familiar with the discussions.