Food security and international trade: Risk, trust and rules

The multilateral trade system today shapes the economy of almost every country of the world. The World Trade Organization (WTO) now has 160 members, and even the non-members must deal with the rules the WTO has established when they trade. The system is ubiquitous yet faces serious challenges. One of these is a challenge that in various guises and for different reasons has been present since it was instituted in 1995: food security. The most recent iteration of the challenge is a fight primarily between the U.S. and India over whether WTO rules should be reformed to accommodate the programmes the Indian government has introduced with its 2013 National Food Security Act (Kripke, this issue). The Indian government is buying food at administered prices from farmers to store and then later distribute through a public distribution system. This fight is important, as a simple scan of the specialist trade press shows. It has implications for all member states seeking to curb domestic food insecurity.