Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 7 • Number 24 • 3rd July 2003
Agriculture: WTO Meeting Takes Stock Of Progress, Discusses Way Forward
The WTO Committee on Agriculture (CoA) special negotiating session met for a formal meeting on 1 July, following a number of informal meetings after Members failed to meet an end-March deadline for agreeing on negotiating modalities (see BRIDGES Weekly, 2 April 2003). The session met to take stock of developments and agree on a progress report to the next Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) meeting on 14-15 July. During the most recent informal meetings, held between 26 and 28 July, delegates discussed, inter alia, special safeguards and special products for developing countries, and the draft report to the TNC.
EU CAP reform raises prospects for future agreement?
During the CoA special session, Members failed to budge from old positions on a number of issues. The recent EU agreement on reforming its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP — see related story, this issue), did however provide some hope for movement, though no substantive issues were directly addressed. Stuart Harbinson, Chair of the CoA, noted that, "recent reforms agreed among EC member states are a timely and welcome development. While essentially taken in response to internal requirements, they should also give some impetus to our negotiations". The US and the Cairns group of agriculture exporters gave a cautiously positive response to the CAP reform, noting however that it didn’t go far enough, and focussed on internal support only, failing to address market access and export subsidy issues (see related story, this issue). The EU itself called on its trading partners to reciprocate. Japan, which also subsidises its agriculture sector heavily, welcomed the EU proposal, and called for flexibility in WTO negotiations, saying these should not be undermined by unrealistic demands.
Also at the meeting, Members discussed whether the most recent draft on agriculture modalities — setting the framework for negotiations — should serve as the basis for negotiations. This issue had surfaced at a mini-ministerial meeting in Egypt in late June, where Singapore requested a new draft be drawn up (see BRIDGES Weekly, 25 June 2003). At the CoA meeting, the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Japan and Barbados insisted that a new draft was needed, and wanted this to be reflected in the group’s report to the TNC. Egypt asked what alternative there was to the latest Harbinson from March, and wondered how far negotiations would have to backtrack in order to start producing a new text. Zimbabwe and Uganda agreed, stating their confusion at the idea of scrapping the current draft. Chair Harbinson indicated that before Members moved forward in negotiations among themselves, there could be no new document.
Developing country issues under debate
On issues of interest to developing countries, Members discussed the proposed special safeguard mechanism (SSM) included in the Harbinson draft, which would allow developing countries to block imports in response to surges with regard to certain products. They also considered a proposed category of special products (SP) with much lower tariff cuts. Despite informal meetings on these issues, delegates continued to differ on the mechanisms. Some developing countries, including Indonesia, India and China, preferred a system under which there would be no external criteria, and Members would themselves decide what products would fall within the SP category. They argued this was necessary in order for countries to protect their vulnerable farmers, in particular with regard to imports of cheap products that had received export subsidies in their countries of origin. Latin American countries and the Cairns group objected, as they felt that the focus should be on dismantling subsidies rather than setting up a new protectionist regime. They felt such protectionist tools could end up hurting prospects for South-South agricultural trade. Colombia suggested a system under which countries that made steeper cuts would benefit more from the SSM and SP.
Chair Harbinson will report on progress to the TNC from 14-15 July. The next meeting of the special session of the CoA will be held from 16-18 July.
ICTSD reporting.