UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Union Minister of Commerce and Industry holds bilateral meeting with UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade Mr Peter J Kyle on the sidelines of WTO MC-14 in Yaounde, Cameroon
Q1. WTO MC-14 (2026, Yaoundé) was only the second Ministerial Conference of the WTO to be hosted on the African continent. Which Ministerial Conference was the first to be held in Africa?
- A. Tenth Ministerial Conference (Nairobi, 2015)
- B. Sixth Ministerial Conference (Hong Kong, 2005)
- C. Ninth Ministerial Conference (Bali, 2013)
- D. Eleventh Ministerial Conference (Buenos Aires, 2017)
Q2. At the conclusion of MC-14 in Yaoundé, how many ministerial decisions (previously endorsed by members in Geneva) were formally adopted by ministers?
- A. One
- B. Two
- C. Four
- D. Six
Q3. The India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) was signed in July 2025 by Piyush Goyal and which UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade?
- A. Jonathan Reynolds
- B. Peter J Kyle
- C. Kemi Badenoch
- D. Greg Hands
Q4. The India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is structured into how many chapters?
- A. 24 chapters
- B. 26 chapters
- C. 30 chapters
- D. 33 chapters
Q5. In which month and year were the India-UK Free Trade Agreement negotiations formally launched?
- A. January 2022
- B. July 2025
- C. February 2025
- D. January 2024
Q6. After being paused in May 2024, India-UK FTA negotiations were resumed in which month?
- A. February 2025
- B. October 2024
- C. December 2024
- D. April 2025
Q7. Counting the Yaoundé conference of 2026, how many WTO Ministerial Conferences have been convened since the first one in 1996?
- A. Twelve
- B. Thirteen
- C. Fourteen
- D. Fifteen
Q8. Under which instrument is the WTO Ministerial Conference required to meet at least once every two years?
- A. The Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the WTO
- B. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), 1947
- C. The Doha Ministerial Declaration, 2001
- D. The Trade Facilitation Agreement, 2017
Q9. On the sidelines of WTO MC-14 in Yaoundé, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal held bilateral meetings with several trade counterparts. Consider the following pairings of interlocutor and the economy they represent:
1. Peter J Kyle — United Kingdom
2. Maros Sefcovic — European Union
3. Maninder Sidhu — Canada
4. Todd McClay — Australia
Which of the above pairs is/are NOT correctly matched?
- Peter J Kyle — United Kingdom
- Maros Sefcovic — European Union
- Maninder Sidhu — Canada
- Todd McClay — Australia
- A. 4 only
- B. 1 and 4
- C. 2 and 3
- D. 3 and 4
Q10. With reference to the special and differential treatment (S&DT) decision adopted at WTO MC-14, consider the following statements:
1. S&DT provisions accord developing and least-developed country members special rights and flexibilities under WTO agreements.
2. The MC-14 S&DT decision specifically concerned the implementation of provisions in the SPS and TBT Agreements.
3. The draft of this S&DT decision was advanced principally by the developed-country members of the WTO.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- S&DT provisions accord developing and least-developed country members special rights and flexibilities under WTO agreements.
- The MC-14 S&DT decision specifically concerned the implementation of provisions in the SPS and TBT Agreements.
- The draft of this S&DT decision was advanced principally by the developed-country members of the WTO.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q11. The India-UK CETA aims to double bilateral trade by 2030. Approximately what was the bilateral trade value taken as the base figure to be doubled?
- A. US$ 36 billion
- B. US$ 56 billion
- C. US$ 112 billion
- D. US$ 150 billion