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TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Sep25/17) Geneva, 24 Sep (D. Ravi Kanth) — The chair of the World Trade Organization’s Doha negotiating body on agriculture, Ambassador Ali Sarfraz Hussain of Pakistan, informed members on 23 September that he will not circulate any draft text on his own for the upcoming WTO’s 14th ministerial conference (MC14), to be held in Yaounde, Cameroon, at the end of March next year. As a result, he has seemingly dashed any hopes for a breakthrough under the current geopolitical and geoeconomic conditions. Countries like Brazil appeared somewhat perturbed by the chair’s announcement, said people familiar with the development. Since the WTO’s 10th ministerial conference (MC10) in Nairobi, Kenya, in December 2015, members have repeatedly failed to resolve the mandated issues, such as a permanent solution for public stockholding (PSH) programs for food security and a special safeguard mechanism (SSM) for developing countries. At a meeting of the Doha negotiating body on agriculture, the United States appeared to harden its stance on the PSH issue when it was raised by India and Nigeria, on behalf of the African Group, according to people familiar with the development. The meeting also featured presentations by the Secretariat on the history of the market access negotiations and agricultural commitments in regional trade agreements (RTAs). Over several negotiating sessions on the unresolved issues like the permanent solution for PSH, the US has stuck to its position that beyond the interim accord on public stockholding, it will not agree to any change, particularly the permanent solution sought by India, the G33 group of developing countries (led by Indonesia), and the African Group, said negotiators who preferred not to be identified. The US also maintained that existing rules already allow for PSH programs if they are based on market price support, suggesting that they can then be classified under the “green box.” If not, countries can still implement them under the current limits, implying the Bali interim “peace clause” for PSH programs. The US said it will not accept any deviation from the rules, said people familiar with the discussions. India, which has been championing a permanent solution for PSH programs, made a strong statement at the meeting, emphasizing its importance for India and other developing countries, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when markets were closed, according to people familiar with the discussions. India stated that it is able to sustain 800 million people through the provision of food grains drawn from its public stocks, suggesting that this is an issue of survival beyond market and trade concerns. India called for a permanent solution at MC14, said people familiar with the discussions. In its intervention, Nigeria said it is disappointing when members show no interest in finding a solution to an issue they all agreed upon collectively. Nigeria also made it clear that if there is no engagement on the PSH issue, then the other side should not expect any engagement on their issues, said people familiar with the development. The US seemingly informed members that the permanent solution for PSH is the Agreement on Agriculture itself, a position it has held since the WTO’s 11th ministerial conference (MC11) in Buenos Aires, Argentina in December 2017, said people who asked not to be quoted. Brazil apparently insisted that the chair has the responsibility to navigate the negotiations and provide guidance on the way forward, a demand that gathered little or no support, said people familiar with the proceedings. However, Australia, the coordinator of the Cairns Group of farm-exporting countries, suggested that agriculture could be included in the broader WTO reform discussions, said negotiators who asked not to be quoted. The Cairns Group has been holding discussions with the African Group for the past year, though there is no clarity on what issues are being discussed or whether there will be any outcome, said people who asked not to be quoted. Besides the unresolved PSH issue, the meeting also witnessed little or no engagement on the much-delayed SSM for developing countries, said people who asked not to be quoted. Proponents of the SSM, such as Turkiye, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, among others, said the mechanism is a priority issue for them, said people familiar with the discussions. During the presentation on the history of the market access negotiations, it was suggested that once the “single undertaking” principle was removed from the Doha negotiations at MC10, there was little or no engagement on this issue, said people familiar with the discussions. Similarly, during the discussion on RTAs and agriculture, members were informed how the issue of agriculture has been treated in such agreements, indicating that it remains a difficult subject for further liberalization, said people familiar with the development. +
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