Trade talks get farm boost

Jonathan Lynn GENEVA – A revised negotiating text on agriculture has brought World Trade Organisation (WTO) members closer to their goal of a deal by the end of the year to open up world trade, diplomats said on Friday.

India’s WTO ambassador Ujal Singh Bhatia said the new agriculture text was a first but good step towards clinching a deal. “It does incorporate all opinions.It keeps everyone’s views on the table,” Bhatia told Reuters as negotiators took a break from reviewing the agriculture text, issued last week together with a revised draft for industrial goods.Trade ministers want to conclude the long-running Doha round this year, before a new US administration takes office and is distracted by settling in, and to inject confidence into a world economy battered by financial crisis.To do that they hope to meet in Geneva in March or April to agree the outlines of a deal.The revised texts, summarising the past six months of talks in the Doha round launched in 2001, prepare the way for that meeting, at which ministers will make trade offs between farming and industry, and possibly other areas like services and rules.DEVELOPMENT ROUND The Doha round explicitly aims to promote development so agriculture’s importance to poor countries makes it central.At Friday’s review, rich and poor countries expressed appreciation for the way the chairman of the agriculture talks, New Zealand’s WTO ambassador Crawford Falconer, had created the basis for further progress in his revision.But speaker after speaker signalled tough negotiations this week by calling for changes to the exemptions proposed for both developed and developing countries to shield sensitive products from the impact of lower tariffs or subsidies.”We welcome, Mr Chairman, your effort to try to accommodate different sensitivities and concerns,” said Brazil’s WTO ambassador Clodoaldo Hugueney on behalf of the G-20 group of developing countries.”Yet the constant accommodation of developed countries sensitivities…has a price in terms of the level of ambition,” he said in a statement, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.In Brussels an official at the EU’s executive commission also praised the revised document on farming.”The Agri text reflects the work done by negotiators and defines a credible landing ground,” he said.But together with the revised draft on industry, plus a text that came out on Tuesday on services and a recent negotiating text on trade rules, there is a lack of balance, he said.By balance, trade negotiators mean that the concessions they are being asked to make in one area are not being matched by the benefits they expect to gain elsewhere.The Doha round is likely to involve a deal in which rich countries cut their farm tariffs and trade-distorting farm subsidies in return for developing countries opening up their markets for industrial goods and services.That would also give a fillip to South-South trade.For those trade-offs to take place at the hoped-for meeting of ministers in March or April, there first needs to be broad agreement in the individual areas of negotiation.Nampa-Reuters”It does incorporate all opinions.It keeps everyone’s views on the table,” Bhatia told Reuters as negotiators took a break from reviewing the agriculture text, issued last week together with a revised draft for industrial goods.Trade ministers want to conclude the long-running Doha round this year, before a new US administration takes office and is distracted by settling in, and to inject confidence into a world economy battered by financial crisis.To do that they hope to meet in Geneva in March or April to agree the outlines of a deal.The revised texts, summarising the past six months of talks in the Doha round launched in 2001, prepare the way for that meeting, at which ministers will make trade offs between farming and industry, and possibly other areas like services and rules.DEVELOPMENT ROUND The Doha round explicitly aims to promote development so agriculture’s importance to poor countries makes it central.At Friday’s review, rich and poor countries expressed appreciation for the way the chairman of the agriculture talks, New Zealand’s WTO ambassador Crawford Falconer, had created the basis for further progress in his revision.But speaker after speaker signalled tough negotiations this week by calling for changes to the exemptions proposed for both developed and developing countries to shield sensitive products from the impact of lower tariffs or subsidies.”We welcome, Mr Chairman, your effort to try to accommodate different sensitivities and concerns,” said Brazil’s WTO ambassador Clodoaldo Hugueney on behalf of the G-20 group of developing countries.”Yet the constant accommodation of developed countries sensitivities…has a price in terms of the level of ambition,” he said in a statement, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.In Brussels an official at the EU’s executive commission also praised the revised document on farming.”The Agri text reflects the work done by negotiators and defines a credible landing ground,” he said.But together with the revised draft on industry, plus a text that came out on Tuesday on services and a recent negotiating text on trade rules, there is a lack of balance, he said.By balance, trade negotiators mean that the concessions they are being asked to make in one area are not being matched by the benefits they expect to gain elsewhere.The Doha round is likely to involve a deal in which rich countries cut their farm tariffs and trade-distorting farm subsidies in return for developing countries opening up their markets for industrial goods and services.That would also give a fillip to South-South trade.For those trade-offs to take place at the hoped-for meeting of ministers in March or April, there first needs to be broad agreement in the individual areas of negotiation.Nampa-Reuters