News Release

No. 08/03
February 12, 2003

WTO/AGRICULTURE: COMMISSION'S FIRST REACTION TO CHAIRMAN HARBINSON'S DRAFT MODALITIES PAPER

The Commission has received Chairman of the Special Session of the WTO Committee on Agriculture Stuart Harbinson's contribution to the discussion in the WTO on the modalities for the agriculture negotiations to be agreed by WTO members. The Commission reiterates the commitment of the European Community to reach agreement in Geneva on the modalities by the target date agreed at Doha, i.e., 31 March 2003.

The Commission notes with regret that the paper appears unbalanced, spreading the burden very unevenly amongst the developed countries, and that it does not reflect the balance of views put forward by the members of the WTO. Other elements contained in Mr. Harbinson's outline may, however, facilitate the search for consensus.

Some of the key objectives contained in the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) are absent from the Chairman's draft, for example the commitment to take non-trade concerns into account in the negotiations and to reduce all forms of export subsidies. In particular, the draft text applies unbalanced disciplines to the different forms of export subsidy. For these and other reasons it fails to address the huge market distortions created by certain forms of subsidies typically granted in other major developed countries.

In many key respects this draft follows the policy lines proposed by a number of countries primarily interested in exports to the detriment of members with other interests. On some important issues it goes outside the mandate agreed by ministers at Doha.

We also regret the absence of ambition with respect to tariff and quota-free access for the least developed countries to developed country markets and the absence of concrete proposals on the difficulties faced by other developing countries confronted with the erosion of their preferential access to developed country markets.

On the other hand, the Commission strongly welcomes Mr. Harbinson's inclusion of our proposals on special treatment for the agricultural crops of particular importance to developing countries for food security.

Negotiations must now accelerate, within the parameters set by the DDA, to reach agreement on the modalities by the end of March. We hope that the Ministerial Meeting in Tokyo at the end of this week will contribute to this goal.

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