Revised draft aims to restart talks
Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association leader Pat O'Rourke called on Ireland to reject the move which would, he said, affect one third of this country's main food exports with a direct loss of €220 million annually.
Other principles for reforming agricultural trade are outlined in the draft which also lays down guidelines for opening up business in industrial goods and services and for launching negotiations on a customs code. There were growing indications in Geneva last night that a deal could be agreed early today, but aid agencies strongly criticised the draft text as not sufficient to meet the needs of developing countries.
Trade and Commerce Minister Michael Ahern, who is representing Ireland at the talks, said there was a certain amount of optimism that agreement could be reached.
"It's particularly important for Ireland that the pace of worldwide trade liberalisation is not slowed down. It has been a very important factor in the development of our economy over the last few years and we want to see it continue," he said.
Minister Ahern said he had been assured that Ireland's vital interests in the agriculture trade element of the negotiations were taken fully into account in the discussions. "I have a very clear commitment from EU Commissioners Pascal Lamy and Franz Fischler that the CAP reform process will be fully protected in the WTO negotiations and that no commitments will be entered into which would go beyond the CAP reform agreements."
However, the ICMSA called on Minister Joe Walsh, who is also in Geneva, and Minister of State Ahern, to exercise a veto on behalf of the Irish Government and stop in its tracks any attempt by the EU Commission to approve the draft document.
Given Ireland's export orientation, he said the draft agreement would adversely affect the economy more than any other country in the EU.
Irish food exports, which account for 25% of our total net foreign earnings, will be hit first and foremost by the draft agreement.
Mr O'Rourke said it was not just farmer's incomes that would be affected, but also the wider economy. As far as Irish exporters are concerned, a failure to agree is better than signing-up to a disaster. No deal is better than a bad deal.
IFA president John Dillon earlier warned in Geneva that a bad outcome would, in the long term demolish family farming in Europe and hand over Europe's food security to ranch style production and corporations in South America.
Celine Charveriat, Head of Oxfam International's Geneva office, said the proposed deal was unacceptable because it failed to meet the needs of developing countries. The text on agriculture does little to address the problem of export dumping, and instead introduces dangerous loopholes for yet more subsidies especially from the US.
It was very unbalanced, delivering detail on issues of importance to developed countries like market access for industrial products but failing to address agricultural issues of key concern to developing countries, she said.
