Technical Capacity, Policymaking and Food Standards: An Overview of Indian Experience

摘要

The SPS Agreement in the WTO gives legal validity to the CODEXudstandards. Since the developed countries have been at the forefront ofudsetting the food standards in the CODEX, the developing countries haveudbeen increasingly engaged in the CODEX, and also in the WTO, with anudobjective to increase their exports of the agricultural and food products.udBut such objective and desire have often been stymied by the lack ofudinstitutions which can sustain the intense technical negotiations at theudCODEX. If these participations are not qualitatively satisfactory, the veryudobjective of such participations is not fulfilled. But since most of theuddeveloping countries are lacking in such high technical capacity, they areudunable to influence or qualitatively shape the negotiations in the CODEX.udThis also impacts their exports of agricultural and food products.udIndia has been an active member of the WTO. But whether it has beenudable to influence or respond to the play of events internationally andudconcomitantly balance it with the domestic imperatives that are embeddedudin the international legal and technological regimes, institutional capacityudconstraints and other social issues. This paper examines such issues, andudalso examines some bilateral trade agreements which demonstrate theudmounting pressure on the developing countries to conform to the foodudstandards of the developed countries.