Reuters | By Doug Palmer | July 29, 2003
With time running short, trade ministers offered a glimmer of hope on Tuesday in the second day of talks aimed at cutting developed country farm subsidies and making it easier for the world's farmers to export their products.
Officials said negotiators were still far from agreement, but World Trade Organization Director General Supachai Panitchpakdi stressed to ministers attending the three-day meeting in Montreal that they must reach a consensus on agricultural issues for the WTO's meeting in September in Cancun, Mexico, to be a success.
"It seems clear this morning that the ministers responded to this because, really, for the first time, there was engagement" on farm trade issues, WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell told reporters. "It's going to require an immense effort (to reach an agriculture deal), but I think, on the basis of what we've seen today ... we're still in the game," he said.
Without an agreement on agriculture, little chance is given to WTO talks in other areas such as services and consumer and manufactured goods. As the world's leading economies and major subsidizers of farm products, the United States and the European Union are under pressure to broker an agreement that the entire WTO membership can support.
EU Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler told reporters recent domestic farm policy reforms have put the EU in a position to offer a 60-percent cut in trade-distorting farm subsidies. The EU also, for first time, can offer to eliminate export subsidies on some farm products, he said.
Fischler said the EU had less room to maneuver on market access, where the United States is pushing for deep cuts. However, Brussels is willing to consider various mechanisms, such as tariff-rate quotas, to provide more market access for sensitive farm products, he said.
In the weeks leading up to Cancun, "we are prepared to go together with our American friends and try to develop something that could give an additional push to the round," Fischler said. "But for the moment, it is open ... whether we can agree on a common position."
NEW IDEAS
Richard Mills, a spokesman for U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, said the United States and others offered some new ideas on Tuesday for moving farm trade talks forward.
But he said the United States had not backed away from its proposal to "harmonize" farm spending levels in the EU and the United States by requiring Brussels to make far deeper cuts.
Agriculture is a priority for many developing countries, who want a steep reduction in U.S. and EU subsidies and more market access. At the same time, many are reluctant to dismantle their own trade barriers.
One group of countries, led by the EU, favors a straight percentage cut for all farm tariffs. But the United States and many other farm exporters want a formula that would harmonize tariff levels by cutting higher tariffs much more than lower ones.
For the first time, countries discussed a possible blending of the two approaches, Fischler said. That could lead to a possible solution if details can be worked out.
The more conciliatory tone came as anti-globalization activists held a second day of demonstrations, with police arresting three more people for vandalism on Tuesday.
Police arrested roughly 240 people on Monday in a running battle with protesters. About 140 activists were to appear in court on Tuesday and 100 were released without being charged. (additional reporting by Gilbert Le Gras)Reuters:
