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?

  1. Peter J Kyle — United Kingdom
  2. Maros Sefcovic — European Union
  3. Maninder Sidhu — Canada
  4. 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?

  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.
  • 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
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