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TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Jul25/03) Geneva, 26 Jun (D. Ravi Kanth) — The chair of the World Trade Organization’s Doha agriculture negotiating body is understood to have said on 25 June that he is not issuing any draft text for the upcoming WTO’s 14th ministerial conference (MC14), while the United States seemingly defended its reciprocal tariffs on national security grounds in response to a question from China, said people familiar with the development. In an apparent attempt to engage the US in the market access negotiations, the Mercosur (Southern Common Market) group of countries – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – floated a proposal (Job/AG/255), which the US seemingly embraced, while rejecting all other mandated issues such as the permanent solution for public stockholding (PSH) programs for food security, and the special safeguard mechanism (SSM) for developing countries, said people who attended a meeting of the Doha agriculture negotiating body. Notwithstanding the controversial moves made by the Mercosur group of countries and the US, a large majority of developing countries, including India, Indonesia, and the African Group, seemingly rallied behind the demand for resolving the mandated issues first before taking on any other issue, said people who asked not to be quoted. At the meeting of the Doha agriculture negotiating body, also referred to as the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session (CoA-SS), the chair, Ambassador Ali Sarfraz Hussain of Pakistan, appears to have made it known that he is not planning to submit any draft text for MC14, which is scheduled to be held in Yaounde, Cameroon, on 26-29 March 2026, said people who preferred not to be quoted. However, the chair seems to have suggested that any text/proposals will have to come from the members, in what appears to be an indication that there is no clarity on what would be the likely “deliverables” for MC14, like the previous three ministerial conferences starting from MC11 in Buenos Aires, Argentina in December 2017, MC12 in Geneva in June 2022, and MC13 in Abu Dhabi in March 2024, said people familiar with the development. The US seemingly said that there has been no movement in the agriculture negotiations, suggesting that single- outcome-based negotiations are unlikely to move forward now, said people familiar with the development. Interestingly, the US and several members of the Cairns Group of farm-exporting countries seemingly suggested that there is no place for the mandated issues based on the Doha agriculture agenda, suggesting that Article 20 of the Agreement on Agriculture (concerning the reform process) takes precedence over the mandated issues, said people familiar with the development. In a seemingly sharp rebuttal, Indonesia said both the permanent solution for PSH and the SSM are stand-alone mandated issues that cannot be brushed aside, said people familiar with the development. The African Group also seemingly expressed concern over not addressing domestic support reduction commitments, which is a central issue of agricultural reform, said people familiar with the development. The big subsidizers like the European Union, and the US along with several other countries of the G10 farm-defensive group led by Switzerland, have so far failed to reform their trade-distorting subsidies worth hundreds of billions of US dollars, said people familiar with the development. MERCOSUR PROPOSAL During the meeting, members apparently engaged on the proposal floated by Argentina on behalf of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay on “Reform of Agricultural Trade in Terms of Market Access”, which has the potential “to support efforts in each of the four dimensions of food security.” These include increasing the physical availability of food, by enabling it to be redistributed from regions with surplus production to regions with a shortfall; economic accessibility, by increasing the available supply and drawing on the comparative advantages of other countries and regions in certain products, resulting in cheaper food; food utilization, by providing consumers with the possibility of a more varied diet; and stability, especially insofar as open trade is ensured under predictable rules, which, as a whole, would reduce the risk of shortages in domestic markets and would mitigate the volatility of local and international prices, thereby ensuring more resilient supply chains. According to the proposal, the elements presented in its submission “contribute in particular to the stability dimensions, given that they would enhance predictability for both exporters and importers, securing the livelihoods of producers, particularly in developing and least developed countries where agriculture and the agro industry remain the main drivers of the economy and one of the main sources of direct and indirect jobs.” It said that “elements that address issues such as tariff escalation are also central to development, productive diversification and poverty reduction in developing and least developed countries.” The proposal suggested that “reducing tariffs and tariff protection for agricultural products would allow resources to be used and distributed more efficiently, which would result in higher output with a lower environmental impact, enabling better conservation.” The US, which has all along been interested only in market access while “short-circuiting” all other issues in the Doha agriculture negotiations, including food aid, appears to have lent its support to the Mercosur proposal, said people who asked not to be quoted. After the meeting, some countries, preferring not to be quoted, suggested that the proposal appears to be aimed at not only engaging the US but also eliciting its support in moving forward the negotiations. Several members also appear to have voiced their views against the proposal, questioning whether now is the appropriate time to engage on market access, said people familiar with the development. Several developing countries, particularly the African Group, are understood to have said that there is a sort of sequencing to the discussion, suggesting that without progress on domestic support there cannot be movement on market access, said people familiar with the development. India appears to have said that the mandated issues should be focused on first, said people familiar with the discussions. In short, “there was no real progress,” said one member, adding that while the Mercosur proposal includes many elements such as tariff reduction and tariff simplification, including the submission of fixed ad valorem equivalents of specific tariffs by the EU and G10 countries, there is unlikely to be any progress before MC14. Though there were suggestions that the Secretariat should make a presentation on the history of the market access element of the Doha agriculture negotiations, there were few takers for such an exercise, said another participant who asked not to be quoted. The chair apparently gave his support to the Mercosur proposal, suggesting that he will try to see how further negotiations could be taken up, said people familiar with the development. During the meeting, some members are understood to have requested for an exercise on what is happening on the agriculture sector reform in free trade agreements and regional trade agreements, said people familiar with the development. The US, which appears to have welcomed the Mercosur proposal, along with other countries, seems to have said that the mandate of Article 20 of the Agreement on Agriculture shall take precedence over all other mandates, adding that single-issue discussions are not feasible, said people familiar with the discussions. On PSH, the US appears to have said that it will not accept anything that leads to distortion, adding that it also does not see any hope for discussion where only one or two issues are taken up, as the chances of any trade-offs are not possible. Brazil together with several other countries seemingly said that they are willing to engage on the permanent solution on PSH, but they also do not expect any agreement in an isolated setting, said people familiar with the development. +
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