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TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Mar25/16) Geneva, 27 Mar (D. Ravi Kanth) — The World Trade Organization’s Committee on Agriculture on 26 March concluded several important outcomes including the third triennial review of the Nairobi Decision on Export Competition, transparency of Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQs), and the continuation of the current list of net-food importing developing countries (NFIDCs), among others, said people familiar with the development. In addition, India held a rather fruitful workshop on the need to address the issue of food security, which remains entangled in the failed WTO agriculture negotiations, said people familiar with the development. While the regular meeting of the Committee on Agriculture (CoA) took place on 24-25 March, the Indian workshop took place on 26 March. The outgoing chair of the CoA, Ms Anna Leung of Hong Kong, China, informed that work on the third triennial review of the much-delayed Nairobi Decision on Export Competition, which was adopted at the WTO’s tenth ministerial conference (MC10) in Nairobi, Kenya, in December 2015, was finally concluded in December last year. The outcome package stemming from the triennial review consists of the Review Report (G/AG/39) and a decision on a comprehensive export competition notification requirements and formats (G/AG/2/Add.2). This is the first time that such a task was accomplished since 1995 wherein members were able to modify the notification requirements based on rules that were agreed in the Uruguay Round, said a former negotiator who asked not to be quoted. Apparently, the Uruguay Round negotiators spent a considerable amount of time negotiating the notification requirements but could not succeed due to several reasons, the negotiator said. More importantly, the burdensome notification work on tariff rate quotas has also been concluded with respect to tariff rate quotas in the export competition pillar. The decisions concluded on these “ticklish” issues would result in streamlining the relevant notification requirements, said another negotiator who asked not to be quoted. Further, according to the negotiator, members agreed on the enhanced transparency of the TRQ administration notifications (RD/AG/134/Rev.2). The document on TRQ administration comprises some 30 pages with some dozen notification requirements. FAO & WORLD BANK APPEAL At the CoA meeting, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Bank made a presentation on the current state of play on food security and agriculture. With the slashing of funds by the United States and several other industrialized countries for food security, the two international organizations presented a rather dire picture, said people familiar with the development. It appears that the World Food Programme (WFP), which depends on food aid from major donors like the US, warned that “the world is entering a period of high uncertainty, marked by a worsening global food security crisis and humanitarian funding cuts,” according to a news release posted on the WTO’s website. The WFP estimated that 343 million people appear to have suffered from acute food insecurity across 74 countries in 2024 – nearly 200 million more than pre-pandemic levels. The World Bank also expressed sharp concern, stating that acute food insecurity remains at record levels with an estimated 713-757 million people being under-nourished. The World Bank also highlighted its commitment to nutrition security, emphasizing its alignment with global efforts such as the Nutrition for Growth Summit in Paris. NFIDCs LIST For some time now, a group of South American farm-exporting countries, particularly Paraguay, have seemingly mounted a campaign aimed at curtailing the specific flexibilities accorded to NFIDCs, said people familiar with the development. These farm-exporting countries are insisting on a “data-based review exercise requiring NFIDCs to present updated statistics,” while the original NFIDCs including Egypt vehemently opposed such a review on grounds that it is aimed at curtailing their flexibilities, said people familiar with the development. Given the divergences between the two sides, the discussion on the annual review of the NFIDCs list resulted in no review. However, members agreed that the current list (G/AG/5/Rev.12) will continue to remain valid in the face of lack of consensus. According to document G/AG/5/Rev.12, the list of NFIDCs “eligible as beneficiaries in respect of the measures provided for within the framework of the Decision, revised to include Tonga as decided at the meeting of the Committee on Agriculture on 27-28 March 2023” includes: a. the least-developed countries as recognized by the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations; plus b. Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Botswana, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Eswatini, Gabon, Grenada, Honduras, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Maldives, Mauritius, Mongolia, Morocco, Namibia, Pakistan, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, Tonga, Tunisia and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. +
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