International Trade Daily | By Daniel Pruzin | October 10, 2001
GENEVA--Several of the key players in the debate over international trade in agricultural goods have given a positive reception to a proposal from the chairman of the WTO's General Council outlining how the trade body's ongoing talks on agriculture should be handled in a new trade round.
The text on agriculture from chairman Stuart Harbinson of Hong Kong, which was forwarded to WTO members Oct. 8 is intended to fill a hole in a draft ministerial declaration circulated by Harbinson Sept. 28 setting out the framework for a possible trade round. The organization hopes to launch a round at its fourth ministerial conference scheduled to take place in Doha, Qatar from Nov. 9-13.
Officials from the EU and the Cairns Group of agricultural exporting nations told BNA Oct. 8 that the text, while needing improvements, could serve as the basis for an eventual deal in Doha on how to carry forward the mandated negotiations on agriculture which began in early 2000.
Japanese trade officials also indicated Oct. 9 they could work with the Harbinson text, although they stressed that the proposal still needed to be reviewed by trade and agriculture officials in Tokyo.
U.S. officials declined to comment on the text.
The heading on agriculture under the draft ministerial declaration was left deliberately vague because of continued differences within the membership over the mandate and scope of the farm trade talks. The declaration noted that the text on agriculture will be elaborated through further consultations based on elements such as the long-term objective of agricultural reform, the direction of reform in the areas of market access, domestic support and export competition, references to special and differential treatment for developing countries as well as non-trade concerns, and benchmarks and time frames for completing the negotiations.
The new text closely resembles the ideas for continuing the farm trade talks which Harbinson delivered orally to a select group of WTO members on Oct. 4. The text reaffirms the commitment of the membership to the long-term objective of establishing "a fair and market-oriented trading system through a program of fundamental reform" as spelled out in the WTO's Agriculture Agreement.
"Building on the work carried out to date, we commit ourselves to comprehensive negotiations aimed at: substantial improvements in market access; reductions of, with a view to phasing out, all forms of export subsidies; and substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support," the text reads.
Members agree that special and differential treatment for developing countries "shall be an integral part of all elements of the negotiations ... so as to enable developing countries to effectively take account of their development needs, including food security and rural development," the text adds. In addition, members "take note of the non-trade concerns reflected in the negotiating proposals submitted by Members and confirms that non-trade concerns will be taken into account in the negotiations as provided for in the Agreement on Agriculture."
The text left it open as to when members should submit their initial market access offers or when the negotiations should be wrapped up.
Food Security, Development
The only notable differences between the initial ideas spelled out orally by Harbinson and the subsequent text include the specific reference to food security and rural development under special and differential treatment as requested by India, and a reference to non-trade concerns as "reflected in the negotiating proposals."
The EU, Japan and others such as Norway, Switzerland, and South Korea want recognition of non-trade concerns such as rural development, protection of the environment and food security that preclude farm products from being treated like other goods under WTO rules.
An EU official described the Harbinson text as "a good basis from which to work with," although the official said Brussels was still unhappy with the "phase out" language in reference to export subsidies. The EU believes such language could be interpreted as a commitment to completely eliminate export subsidies, which it opposes.
A trade diplomat from Brazil, a key member in the 18-strong Cairns Group, said his country also welcomed the Harbinson text but was nevertheless "cautious."
"We can work with it but only if nothing is added," the official declared, adding that Brazil was wary of any attempt by the EU or others to link a deal on agriculture with acceptance of its demands relating to the environment, sanitary/phytosanitary measures, or technical barriers to trade. The EU is struggling to convince other WTO members to agree to talks on trade and environment and has sought to include SPS and TBT issues among the "WTO Rules" which Harbinson has proposed for negotiation in the new round.
A senior Japanese trade official said his first reaction was that the Harbinson text was "better than the one we had in Seattle." WTO members had come close to an agreement on a more detailed negotiating mandate for agriculture at their 1999 Seattle ministerial, but that text fell by the wayside when the meeting ended in disarray.
"The important thing is to agree to start the negotiations," the Japanese official said, adding that details related to non-trade concerns and other issues of interest to Japan could be worked out in the course of the talks.
Japanese officials said Oct. 9 that trade ministers meeting in Singapore later this week would focus their talks on a half-dozen issues which are seen as the key stumbling blocks to the launch of a new round.
The informal meeting scheduled for Oct. 13-14 is intended to help clear the way for the launch of a trade round at the WTO's Doha ministerial conference in November. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, EU trade commissioner Pascal Lamy, and top trade officials from Japan, Canada, Brazil, India, and a dozen other countries are expected to attend.
The officials said the issues to be discussed in Singapore include agriculture, implementation, investment and competition, the environment, and "WTO Rules," a heading which covers antidumping and countervailing measures.
The membership is split over whether the WTO should initiate negotiations on investment and competition policy as part of the new round, with the EU and Japan leading the campaign for negotiations and many developing countries resisting the idea. The EU and Japan are having a more difficult time arguing the case for negotiations on trade and environment. For its part the United States is alone in resisting calls for WTO negotiations on clarifying and improving existing antidumping and countervailing rules.
On implementation, developing countries want more lenient terms for complying with their existing WTO obligations. The Quad Group of countries--the United States, EU, Japan and Canada have agreed to offer some concessions aimed at helping developing countries implement WTO agreements but have insisted that any demands on the renegotiation of existing rules can only be dealt with in the context of a new trade round.
Copyright c 2001 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., Washington D.C.International Trade Daily:
