WTO negotiator abandons hope of meeting deadline
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2003/3/30/business/wtoagri&sec=business
By NAOMI KOPPEL
GENEVA: The man leading negotiations on reducing barriers to international
trade in agriculture acknowledged Friday that it will be impossible to meet
next week�s deadline to set the framework for cuts because of intractable
national positions.
Stuart Harbinson told the 145-nation World Trade Organisation that
countries need to come up with new proposals and compromises.
The blueprint is supposed to be agreed on March 31, but negotiators now
fear the talking could continue for months.
An agreement on agriculture is seen by many as the key to a wider round of
trade liberalisation negotiations that are supposed to be completed by the
end of next year. Already the WTO has missed a number of deadlines, but
this failure would be the biggest so far.
US chief negotiator Allen Johnson this week claimed the problems were
caused by �the European Union's inability to engage and Japan's
unwillingness to engage.'' Those countries insist the talks must take
account of the fact that some subsidies are needed to ensure
self-sufficiency, consumer protection and animal welfare standards.
But EU negotiator Mary Minch denied that the 15-nation bloc is lagging
behind and said some countries were demanding a lot from the EU without
offering anything in return.
�We feel that we have put forward an ambitious and balanced proposal which
will move reform ahead in all the areas,�� she said.
Countries have been making proposals for months on how to reduce import
tariffs on agricultural goods and cut back on subsidies paid to farmers,
but they disagree widely on which areas to tackle and how far to go.
While some nations � mostly large, agricultural exporting countries like
Australia, the United States and Brazil � want to see major cuts, importers
like the European Union and Japan have lesser ambitions.
Some developing countries, including India, say they need to see big cuts
to subsidies paid by rich nations before they would consider reducing
import duties.
Harbinson, who chairs the WTO committee negotiating on agriculture,
produced a proposal for the agreement in February which called for import
tariffs to be cut by up to 60%.
It also proposed the elimination of all subsidies linked to exports within
nine years and drastic cuts to other subsidies. But the Harbinson plan was
roundly criticised from all sides.
If agriculture discussions overrun, that could slow the progress in the
WTO�s other areas of negotiation, such as trade in manufactured goods and
trade in services like banking and telecommunications. � AP
