Co-op concern at draft WTO deal
President of the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society Donal Cashman said the mid point agreement reached in Geneva may address some of the concerns it had raised in the course of the negotiations.
However, the framework has to be developed and there remain concerns for Irish co-ops and the agri-food sector.
Mr Cashman said Ireland’s demand for protection of sensitive products (dairy and beef) in the domestic EU market must be upheld in the forthcoming negotiations.
“These products are vital for Ireland and our ministers and negotiators must persuade the other EU Ministers of the need to ensure that dairy and beef products are included in the EU list of sensitive products.”
Mr Cashman said the decision to eliminate export refunds over a period to be negotiated is very disappointing as certain EU products will not be competitive on the world market - even after the Luxembourg Agreement is fully implemented.
EU negotiators will have to ensure that the final agreement will also apply to export credits, food aid and insurance programmes which have repayment periods of more than 180 days, he said.
IFA president John Dillon said the IFA has a clear bottom line position on the detailed WTO negotiations on agriculture which are to begin in September.
There must be no cuts in EU import tariffs in excess of the Luxembourg and Agenda 2000 CAP reform provisions, no threat to decoupled direct payments and agreement that “sensitive products” must include beef and dairy products, he said.
