India seeks the cooperation of African Countries at the WTO on the issue of Food Security and Trade Facilitation when the body re-convenes next month in Geneva, said Rajeev Kher, Commerce Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry at an Interactive Session organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The Commerce Secretary pointed out that India's stand at the WTO deliberations on the Trade Facilitation Agreement was endorsed by the G-33 and endorsed by 46 countries including several countries from Africa. India, therefore, was not the sole country in the fray. The Commerce Secretary observed that that there were 21 countries in the world that use public stockholding for food security purposes and many more countries are expected to resort to the same in the future. Most of these countries could possibly violate the de minimize levels that were agreed upon.

Highlighting the growth of the India-Africa trade relationship, the Commerce Secretary stated that trade had grown ten-fold over the past ten years. Africa is one of India's most important trading partners. He felt that there was a significant amount of complementarities between India and Africa and the two countries should work together to develop regional value chains.

In order to expand trade with Africa, Kher also pointed out that India had recently amended its Duty Free Tariff Preference (DFTP) scheme to cover around 98% of the tariff lines. The Government was in the process of disseminating this information. In addition, the government was also considering expanding and augmenting the Lines of Credit (LoCs) extended to Africa.