Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 8 • Number 24 • 7th July 2004
Agriculture: Critics Voice Concern Over Negotiating Process
Meeting in Geneva on 5 July, the G-10 — comprising net food-importing, mainly developed countries, including Switzerland and Japan — released a position paper expressing dismay at being excluded from consultations among the Five Interested Parties (FIPs: Australia, Brazil, the EC, India and the US). In related developments, civil society groups called for a stronger pro-poor focus in the agriculture negotiations.
G-10 criticises secretive FIPs meetings
Following a one-day ministerial in Geneva on 5 July, the G-10 released a new position paper that called for a more inclusive and transparent negotiating process. The paper was a reaction to the G-10’s exclusion from high-level FIPs negotiations on the sidelines of recent agricultural talks as well as upcoming FIPs meetings. Many negotiators, including from the G-10 group of countries, criticised the secrecy of the FIPs meetings (see BRIDGES Weekly, 30 June 2004). The G-10, which accounts for 13 percent of the world’s agriculture imports, took issue with not being included, as the FIPs represents countries from all major negotiating alliances with the exception of the G-10 and G-33 (a group of developing countries that advocates the concepts of ’special products’ and a ’special safeguard mechanism’ for developing countries).
The G-10 paper restated many of the group’s previous views, including the need for flexibility and balance, the rejection of a "one-size-fits-all" approach to agriculture reform and the safeguarding of non-trade concerns. On the domestic support, the G-10 paper supported a substantial reduction of trade distorting subsidies. On Green box support — which is minimally trade distorting and includes subsidies in areas such as environmental and landscape protection — the G-10 said it was ready to discuss monitoring transparency but opposed to any quantitative restrictions. Finally, under the export competition pillar, the G-10 agreed to phase out all forms of export subsidies. However, this offer was amde contingent on certain concessions in the other two pillars, and in securing full parallelism on all forms of export support.
Under market access the G-10 demonstrated new flexibility, saying it was prepared to consider the so-called tiered formula, which was discussed heavily during the most recent ‘agriculture week’ held in Geneva from 23-25 June. The G-10 also showed new flexibility on tariff rate quota commitments, saying it would consider them on a "case-by-case" basis.
Civil society sends open letter to negotiators
The Centre of Concern, composed of several civil society organisations including CAFOD, Oxfam International, Focus on the Global South and the WWF, recently released an open letter to WTO negotiators on agriculture. The letter cautioned that the way agriculture negotiations were progressing, they might bring results that harm developing countries, especially poor and vulnerable farmers in them. The groups expressed concern that developing countries would be asked to agree to further liberalise their agricultural markets "without any assurance that export dumping will end". The letter called for the end of all forms of support that contribute to the dumping of agricultural products. It also called for effective and transparent measures to support non-trade concerns, emphasising the need for developing countries to preserve policy space to pursue development policies. According to this letter, the policy space needs to go beyond "the limited ’special products’ and ’special safeguards’ concepts".
ICTSD reporting: "Agriculture: Farm-Protective G-10 Ministers Cite Give In Agriculture Talks, Seek Place at Table," WTO REPORTER, 7 July 2004.