Prospects for world trade deal in doubt

IT will take a political miracle to agree a new world trade deal this year, according to experts monitoring the talks.

World Trade Organisation (WTO) officials will hold a stock-taking meeting in Geneva this week but the expectations of a breakthrough in the eight-year old negotiations known as the Doha Round are seen as slim.

An indication that the prospects of an imminent deal have been scaled back is reflected in the fact that this week’s stock taking will be conducted by officials rather than ministers.

The current round of talks collapsed in Geneva in 2008 to the relief of farmers and the agri-food sector in Ireland, which regarded the proposals on the table at that time as potentially devastating.

Under those proposals, Europe and the US would open up their markets to agricultural trade and, in exchange, get better access in markets such as China and India.

Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Minister Brendan Smith told Fine Gael TD Bernard Durkan in the Dáil the prospects for a deal in 2010 are in doubt.

He said the positions of some other key countries remain unclear and this has made progress difficult.

But it was inevitable the current WTO negotiating round will conclude at some point and set thepolicy environment for the future development of EU and Irish agriculture.

“We must ensure we do not undermine the competitiveness and sustainability of European and Irish agriculture by decisions taken in the context of the WTO negotiations and we need to adopt a coherent and co-ordinated approach to both policy dossiers,” he said.

Mr Smith said future EU agricultural policy must be based on competitiveness and sustainability and have sufficient resources to meet these twin goals.

He added that Ireland can only support a WTO deal that is ambitious, fair and balanced.