WTO deal ‘protects’ Irish farmers
He said it copperfastens the benefits to Irish farmers of the recently negotiated reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and his decision to fully decouple direct payments. It also protects the essential interests of Irish agriculture in the EU domestic market.
But the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association president Pat O’Rourke warned that the outline agreement which includes a move to eliminate export refunds was a potential economic disaster for Ireland.
He called on the Government to set up a high-level group of experts from state departments and agencies and the agri-food sector to plan a strategy for exports.
Mr O’Rourke said the Irish economy is extremely vulnerable with up to 30%% of agri-food and agricultural exports depending totally on export refunds. If those refunds were eliminated overnight, then the exports themselves would no longer be possible.
Brazil’s foreign minister Celso Amorim, who led the G20 group of developing countries at the talks, said the draft deal was the beginning of the end for farm subsidies, while the French strongly criticised the European Union for having given away too much.
But years of tough negotiations by the 147 member states of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) are expected before the details and target dates for the deal are set.
EU Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler, an architect of the recent subsidy-reducing reform of European farming, said domestic support levels would remain untouched by the WTO talks. “We can assure our farmers that there’s no risk,” he said.
In relation to domestic support, Minister Joe Walsh said the previous draft contained wording which could be interpreted as making the EU’s decoupled direct payments subject to reductions.
He said he objected to this wording and insisted on its exclusion from the text. This was achieved. Consequently, decoupled direct payments will not be subject to reductions.
On market access, Minister Walsh said the agreement provides for the self-selection by WTO members of an appropriate number of sensitive products which will then be subject to special treatment insofar as tariff protection is concerned.
Ireland had already indicated at an EU Council of Ministers meeting in Brussels in January 2003 that beef and dairy products would have to be treated as sensitive.
The arrangements for sensitive products will ensure that the EU domestic market will be adequately protected from imports from third world countries and will remain remunerative for Irish and other EU producers.
The agreement underlined the importance of beef and dairy producers focusing more closely on the EU domestic market.
In the case of export competition, Minister Walsh said all forms of assistance such as export credits, guarantees, insurance schemes and the operations of state trading enterprises will in future be subject to rules.
