WTO deal step in process
But Irish Agriculture and Food Minister Mary Coughlan pointed out that the WTO deal in Hong Kong was only a step in the negotiating process, the final stages of which will be extremely important for Ireland, with vital issues on the table such as access to EU markets for non-EU countries.
At Hong Kong, only duty-free, quota-free access for 97% of exports by least-developed countries, from 2008, was agreed. These are countries with annual per capita incomes less than $750 (3% of products were left out because the US was unwilling to offer duty-free access to textiles from Bangladesh and Cambodia).
Access to the EU from huge agri-exporters such as Brazil remains unchanged for the moment. But the EU is expected to repeat its take-it-or-leave-it offer of an average 46% cut in the agricultural import tariffs which protect the EU market, when negotiations resume after an April 30, 2006 deadline set in Hong Kong.
European farmers have insisted market access must not go an inch further than the EU’s 46% offer, and special safeguard clauses must be included, and European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso has warned other WTO negotiators not to expect further EU concessions on farm aid. Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel said Brussels would reject any timetable for reductions that required further EU farm reforms.
A tariff deal could be even tougher to achieve in April than last week. Japan has offered no more than a 30% cut off its massive 778% tariff on rice imports. It will be harder also for the US to offer concessions in the New Year, with congressional elections in the offing.
WTO officials will, however, hope that the EU’s budget settlement may ease some internal EU tensions, and that Japan’s new reformist government might respond better to calls on rich nations to lower prohibitive barriers to farm imports.
WTO member governments also have until April to spell out exactly how they plan to cut farm export subsidies by the end of 2013.
For the EU, it is conditional, and will only be confirmed when there is agreement on parallel elimination of other forms of export support operated by countries outside the EU.
European negotiators in Hong Hong insisted on close WTO scrutiny of US international food aid programs that the EU says amount to a disguised subsidy for US farmers. US officials strongly denied that their food aid scheme distorts free trade. This argument could re-ignite ill-will between Washington and Brussels when talks resume next spring, and negotiators have only until early 2007 to save the trade talks from failure due to the expiry in July 2007 of the legislative authority the US administration needs to conduct international trade talks.
Ireland’s Minister Coughlan said that the 2013 deadline gives Ireland eight years to adjust to the loss of export refunds, which were worth €214m in 2004. She said it is also very important for Ireland that flexibility on how to phase out export subsidies has been retained by the EU.
She has been asked by IFA President John Dillon to immediately establish a high-level working party under the auspices of the Taoiseach’s office to co-ordinate Ireland’s handling of the vital technical negotiations in Geneva that have to be completed by April, 2006.
Among the demands of EU farmers in these negotiations are:
* Parallel timing of equal cuts of all forms of export subsidy by all rich countries
* Phasing out export subsidies in a manner which ensure farm prices and markets are not undermined and destabilised in a way which would cause severe hardships for European farmers and force many out of business
* Effective cuts in US domestic farm support to match EU offers, notably the US marketing loans and counter-cyclical payments
* Serious negotiations on the extension of the register of geographical indications to other products, in addition to wines and spirits.
