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TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Oct24/11) Geneva, 11 Oct (D. Ravi Kanth) — The World Trade Organization’s Director-General, Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on 10 October appears to have suffered a setback on her much-publicized plan to break the “gridlock” in the agriculture negotiations, as consensus was elusive on the two options presented, particularly on the appointment of facilitators, said people familiar with the development. Following the lack of convergence on the proposed way forward on agriculture, including the appointment of facilitators at the formal Doha Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) meeting on 10 October morning, the DG apparently switched it to an informal meeting of Heads of Delegation (HoD) in the afternoon, said people familiar with the discussions. At the informal HoD meeting, Ms Okonjo-Iweala touted her specific achievements over the past several months, including the secondment program that was apparently launched by the WTO Secretariat, said people familiar with the discussions. Significantly, when the DG said that she had started a secondment program almost on the lines of such schemes being implemented in other multilateral bodies, a US official raised several questions on the proposed program, saying that the Secretariat has not answered the official’s questions, said people familiar with the development. In her response, the DG apparently said she is unaware of the US questions and went on to assure the American official that she will get back with her replies, said people familiar with the development. The DG claimed progress in the fisheries subsidies negotiations, noting that Ecuador is the latest member to have ratified the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement. So far, 84 WTO members have ratified the Agreement, which will come into effect only when two-thirds of the membership, or 111 countries, ratify it. She said barring one member, the proposed agreement on disciplines on subsidies contributing to overcapacity and overfishing can be concluded, said people familiar with the discussions. She suggested that a “wall” exists around the fisheries agreement, while the chair of the WTO’s General Council, Ambassador Petter Olberg of Norway, was apparently heard saying into the microphone, a “wall of shame”, said people familiar with the discussions. DIVIDE ON AGRICULTURE India, Mozambique, and the Russian Federation strongly challenged the two proposed options. The first option would involve forming small groups to discuss the outstanding issues and simultaneously conveying their reports to the Doha negotiating body on agriculture, also referred to as the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session, while the second option is based on a facilitator-led process on different topics. At the meeting, several other members raised their specific concerns, including the European Union, which apparently sought more clarifications on the facilitator-led process. The EU, which needs to make huge reductions in its Amber Box subsidies, appears to be hiding behind the permanent solution for public stockholding (PSH) programs for food security, said a person, who asked not to be quoted. The EU said that “we all know where the difficulty lies when it comes to the agriculture negotiations”, arguing that “a workable solution to public stockholding within the context of reductions to trade-distorting support is the path.” However, the previous ministerial mandates did not link these two issues and treated PSH and the special safeguard mechanism (SSM) on a separate footing, the person said. The United States also sought more clarity on the second option, said people familiar with the discussions. Mozambique, on behalf of the African Group, expressed sharp concerns over the facilitator-led process, a concern that was shared by several other countries. Russia expressed concern over the issue of export restrictions, saying that it has no place in the proposed negotiations, said people familiar with the discussions. Despite what appears to be a rather embarrassing setback, the DG said: “I sense that there’s a willingness to try to break the gridlock on agriculture and to try and move the process forward.” “I also sense that people like the idea of meeting in various configurations with each other and trying to find common ground,” the DG argued.
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