US, CHINA REACH DEAL ON GENETICALLY MODIFIED SOYBEAN IMPORTS
On 7 March, USTR Chief Agricultural Trade Negotiator Allen Johnson announced that the US had reached an interim agreement with China that will allow imports into China of genetically modified soybeans and other agricultural products from the US. Earlier this year in January, China had announced regulations that required importers of genetically modified agricultural products to apply for official safety verification approval from China’s Ministry of Agriculture, leading US producers to accuse Beijing of using the new rules to hinder imports and protect Chinese soybean growers. Under the new deal, China in effect will temporarily waive its regulations, which were set to take effect on 20 March, and has agreed to recognise US assurances that its soybeans are safe for human consumption. China is the largest market for US soybean exports, buying more than $1 billion worth last year.
"China, US Reach An Agreement on Farm Exports," THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, 8-10 March 2002. "US, China Reach Interim Deal on GMO Soy Imports," DOW JONES NEWSWIRES, 8 March 2002. "China to Resume US Soyabean Imports," FINANCIAL TIMES, 8 March 2002.
AUSTRALIA CONDEMNS JAPAN-NORWAY PLAN TO RESUME TRADE IN WHALE MEAT
On 7 March, Australia expressed its disapproval of plans by Japan and Norway to resume the trade of whale meat, possibly by May this year. After an 11-year hiatus, Japan plans to import approximately 10 to 20 tonnes of red meat from minke whales from Norway over a time span of several months. In addition, Japan plans to increase its annual scientific catch. In response, Australian Environment Minister David Kemp said this week that these two proposals mean "whaling nations are aggressively charting a course to resume hunting whales on a commercial basis". Australia, which officially opposes commercial hunting of whales, stated that the import of whale meat is needless as wholesalers still have 220 tonnes of whale meat in storage. However, Japan and Norway take the view that minke whales are plentiful. Japan gave up commercial whaling in 1986 to comply with an International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium, but re-commenced scientific research whaling in 1987. This year Japan plans to catch 50 Sei whales, 150 minke whales, 50 Bryde’s whales and 10 sperm whales. Australia, on the other hand, has for a long time been advocating the creation of a South Pacific whale sanctuary, which, together with existing sanctuaries in the Indian and Southern Oceans, would outlaw whaling around the Antarctic (see BRIDGES Weekly, 11 July 2000). Australia also announced that it will campaign for an end of the trade in whale products and for an end of whaling itself During the IWC’s annual meeting in Shimonoseki, Japan, in May.
"Australia blasts Japan, Norway on whale meat trade", 8 March 2002, Reuters.
CITES LIFTS BAN ON CASPIAN STURGEON TRADE
On 6 March, the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) announced that it had accepted the Caspian littoral states’ proposal for a 2002 Caspian- wide quota of some 142 tons — i.e. 9.6 percent less than last year — of caviar from five sturgeon species. CITES required Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan in June 2001 under the so-called Paris Agreement (see BRIDGES Weekly, 26 June 2001, http://www.ictsd.org/html/weekly/26-06-01/story7.htm) to suspend all further harvesting of sturgeon stocks for 2001 as well as to conduct a stock assessment and to develop a common sturgeon management plan before the end of 2001. Although Iran — the fifth Caspian range state - - had not been subject to the CITES conditions, it joined the four ex- USSR countries in their regional effort to set up a sustainable sturgeon programme scheme. CITES, which was satisfied with the coastal states’ actions, declared that "for the first time, the Caspian Sea’s wild sturgeons are being managed through a unified system rather than through competing national systems." This, CITES Secretary-General Willem Wijnstekers added, "has enabled the region’s governments to demonstrate that sturgeon numbers are indeed stable or, in some cases, increasing." The conservation groups Wildlife Conservation Society, Natural Resources Defence Council and SeaWeb, however, called on CITES not to lift the ban on caviar, as a recent survey had revealed a 40 percent drop in mature beluga sturgeon since 1995 in the Northern Caspian. Furthermore, no mature beluga sturgeon had been detected in the middle and southern Caspian Sea.
"CAVIAR: UN Asked To Reconsider Trade Ban", REUTERS, 8 March 2002; "Caspian Sea States To Resume Caviar Trade," CITES PRESS RELEASE, 6 March 2002; "Caspian Caviar Ban Lifted," BBC NEWS, 6 March 2002; "Avoid Eating Beluga Caviar Conservation Groups," REUTERS NEWS SERVICE, 8 March 2002.