UPSC Prelims 2015 · Question 31 of 98

UPSC Prelims 2015 question on WTO Agriculture Agreements

The terms 'Agreement on Agriculture', Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measure' and 'Peace Clause' appear in the news frequently in the context of the affairs of the

  1. Food and Agriculture Organization
  2. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
  3. World Trade Organization
  4. United Nations Environment Programme
Show answer

Answer: C. World Trade Organization

Verdict

The answer is the World Trade Organization. All three terms belong to the WTO's agricultural trade framework.

Analysis

The Agreement on Agriculture is one of the WTO agreements concluded in the Uruguay Round, covering market access, domestic support and export competition. The Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures governs food safety and plant and animal health measures affecting trade, which is why it surfaced when the European Union lifted its ban on Indian mangoes. The Peace Clause is the interim understanding shielding developing country public stockholding programmes from challenge, an issue India pressed alongside the Trade Facilitation Agreement. The Food and Agriculture Organization sets standards and gathers data but does not run these agreements, and neither climate nor environment bodies do.

Source

Reporting on India's appeal to the dispute settlement body and on the European Union mango ban.

How to crack it

The word agreement, combined with a dispute mechanism and a negotiated clause, points to a trade regime rather than a technical agency. Test the vocabulary: bodies that make standards use words like guidelines and codes, while bodies that bind members use words like agreement, clause and dispute settlement. Fuse that with the news hook of the food security stockholding dispute, which is what kept all three terms in circulation in this period.

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