By Pro Farmer Editors / Mike Jubinville, Editor of Pro Farmer Canada
The Cairns group came to a stronger consensus on the need to end global agricultural subsidies of any sort at the 21st Cairns Group ministerial meeting in Banff, Alberta, but farm leaders contacted after the meeting indicated that only "baby steps" were made toward actually eliminating the trade distorting mechanisms.
The 18-nation group was sequestered in the luxurious Banff Springs Hotel with its stunning view of the Bow River Valley from Oct 10 - 12, 2000.
The setting was idyllic, surrounded by snow capped mountains with the weather ideal, but the mood was more sour. The Ministerial meeting itself was mainly filled with "diplomatic" language while the farm leaders meeting, which was going on at the same time as the ministerial meeting, was far more acrimonious with farm leaders far more vocal in their condemnation of agricultural subsidies, particularly those of the European Community.
Both groups accused of being the main culprits in the subsidy debate, the US and the EU, were invited to the meeting, but only the EU showed up with the delegation fronted by EU Agricultural Commissioner Franz Fischler.
Canadian sources indicated that the upcoming US election in November had limited the ability of a US delegation to show up. The farm leaders from the Cairns Group detailed the hardship being thrust on their producers by the EU and US subsidy programs which have driven prices to distress levels and deepened the poverty of their farmers.
Even the more developed countries in the Cairns Group were chided by the developing nations as Raul Montemayour of the Federation of Free Farmers Cooperatives of the Philippines noted that while the subsidy problem was a "life or death issue in the developing world, it only amounts to whether someone in the developed world buys a snow-board or not".
Canada's Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief downplayed any tensions between the developing and developed nations in the Cairns Group noting that they were unified in their condemnation of subsidies and their trade distorting effect.
But the one common element in every meeting and news conference in Banff was a pointed attack on the EU and its current subsidy structure and its attempt to introduce new elements into the agricultural debate which will have the same distorting impact as direct subsidies.
EU Commissioner Fischler conceded that discussions had been "difficult" open and honest, but he also indicated that there was nothing "predatory or mean" in the talks and that the EU had expressed a willingness to negotiate some changes in its policies, although it would expect concessions from other participants. When asked about the seeming intransigent positions on both sides of the issue, Fischler stated that these were typical of positions before a debate and that he expected all sides to make some concessions in the negotiations.
For its part, the EU attacked this year's US farm support programs which Fischler indicated isolated US farmers from the market so that their planting decisions reflect US farm programs and not market signals. He was also critical of the State Trading Enterprises (STE) such as the Canadian Wheat Board, the Australian Wheat Board and the New Zealand Dairy Board.
He noted that if internal domestic prices differ from the export market prices in any way, then the STE is having a distorting impact on the market. However Cairns Group ministers rallied around the STEs saying that they had little distorting impact on the markets with Canada's Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief noting that the US has investigated the Canadian Wheat Board several times and has never been able to identify any violation of GATT or WTO rules.
Fischler, in closed door meetings, told the ministers that agricultural trade can not be controlled by the same rules used for normal commerce as agriculture has a special place in shaping a nation and as a result should be exempt from normal trade rules. Fischler indicated that the EU "will not accept the same rules for agriculture as for trade". He then pointed out a basic attitudinal disagreement between the EU and the Cairns Group.
The Cairns Group sees free trade in agriculture as a way to strengthen and increase its agricultural sector while the EU sees free trade in agriculture as a way that weakens and threatens its agriculture. Fischler indicated that the EU would be unveiling its agricultural proposal at the WTO mandated talks on agriculture soon, likely in November.
The Cairns group was unified in criticizing what it described as the new forms of protectionism "which come disguised in humanitarian objectives, such as environment, social and labour standards...and animal rights".
Brazil's Minister of Agriculture and Food Supply, Dr Marcus de Moraes described them as "new old excuses to justify protectionism". To the enthusiastic applause of participants in the final public forum of the minister's meeting, New Zealand's Minister of Agriculture, James Sutton, said that "we do not need lectures on animal welfare from people who force feed geese".
Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce Dirk Du Toit summed up the Cairns proposal to the WTO round on agriculture, which is expected to get underway in March 2001, as the end of export subsidies, the end of domestic subsidies that distort production and trade and total market access free of protectionist programs or tariffs.
The group was very supportive of the US proposal on agriculture that had been unveiled at the WTO in Geneva earlier this year. Australia's Minister of Trade Mark Vaile said that it will be a top priority of the Cairns Group to keep the US from backing away from its proposal which is "very close to the Cairns view". He said there was some concern that with a new president in the White House after November there could be a change in direction.
Canada's Vanclief and Australia's Vaile ended the meeting by noting that the Cairns Group has been building a coalition with "like minded" countries aimed at pushing for changes to agriculture at the WTO. They indicated that agriculture is mandated for the talks and that the Cairns Group and its supporters will force the WTO to deal with the issue.
They felt that they had enough votes to force the WTO to deal fairly with the issue. Vaile, when pushed by reporters to outline a firm result of the Banff meeting, noted that the WTO is a political process and that the Cairns Group now has enough support among the WTO membership to "control the vote". It was pointed out that the attendance at the Banff meeting by Egyptian Minister for Economy and External Trade, Dr Youseff Boutros-Ghali, was part of the consensus building maneuvers by the Cairns Group.
Brazil's Marcus de Moraes ,speaking bluntly, stated that without global agricultural trade reform "there will be no other discussions of trade issues" at the WTO. Ministers continual referred to the breakdown of the WTO talks at Seattle in Nov, 1999 as a sign of what will come if the EU and the US attempt to ignore the demand to end trade distortions in agriculture.
Participants also pointed to a "veiled threat" in the final communique of the meeting stating that "with the absence of progress in the negotiations, inevitably there would be pressure to examine other options for securing reasonable treatment for agriculture in the WTO after 2003 when the "Peace Clause" expires."
The Cairns Group of 18 agricultural exporting countries was formed in 1986 to put farm trade reform on the global trade agenda. Its members who account for about one-third of world farm exports are Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Fiji, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Paraguay, South Africa, Thailand and Uruguay.:
