News Release
Franz Fischler
No. 24/04
February 19, 2004
EU FARM COMMISSIONER FRANZ FISCHLER CALLS FOR PROGRESS
IN DOHA ROUND IN 2004
Speaking
in Washington, DC, today, EU
Agriculture Commissioner
Franz Fischler welcomed the latest initiative
by the United States to help revive the stalled
Doha Round of world trade negotiations, but stressed that it was mistaken
to believe that a phasing out of EU export subsidies was the sole precondition
for successful negotiations. Fischler said all negotiating parties must respect
the Doha
mandate which means that "when we talk about export subsidies, we should
talk about all forms of export competition, not just Europe's."
In his speech "Restarting
the Doha Round," Fischler sets out the preconditions
he believes are necessary for re-launching of the agriculture negotiations.
*
* *
“As the new Chair of the
General Council and the other
WTO Committees are now smoothly confirmed, we are ready to move into the next
crucial stage and to test the ground on where we are and what the real flexibility
of the different parties is individually. That will prepare us for the crunch
moment, getting together all those responsible for the outcome of the negotiations
to really test what they are willing to give and take.
"But before we arrive
there, we need to measure the effort we are ready to put into the negotiations
against what we all committed ourselves to in the first place the Doha Declaration.
Re-opening a discussion on the Doha agenda has seemed totally counterproductive.
Because sooner or later, the overall balance of an agreement will depend not just
on what individual WTO partners are asking for but also what they are willing
to contribute. And the more balanced and consistent the overall package, the better
the chances are for a successful outcome.
"The
European Commission will be doing everything in its power to achieve this.
In the past months we have launched a whole range of diplomatic initiatives, to
explain to the developing
countries in particular that there is real substance to Europe's offer.
"These activities
were not aimed only at explaining our position in trade issues,
but at improving our co-operation on development issues, as our latest initiative
on
agricultural commodity dependency and on
cotton indicates.
"We have also welcomed
the latest initiative from US side, which shows that the United States are clearly
interested in reviving the negotiations and so contributing to moving the blocked
talks forward. But since this later initiative, or rather its public interpretation,
gives often the impression that a phasing out of EU export subsidies is the only
precondition for successful negotiations, let me clarify from the start which
preconditions
I see for the re-launching of the agriculture negotiations.
"The first precondition
I see relates exactly to export subsidies. Most parties say that export subsidies
need to be abolished. We have said, and tabled a proposal months ago to that effect,
that export subsidies on products which are of interest to the developing countries
should be abolished.
"But what export subsidies
are we talking about? The EU measures of supporting exports have a trade-distorting
impact on trade, and we have never said the contrary. But these have been disciplined
already in the previous Round, which failed to discipline, despite specific commitments
to the contrary in the Agreement on Agriculture, other forms of export support.
"Therefore we insist that when we talk about export subsidies, we should
talk about all forms of export competition, not just Europe's.
"This is after all the clear Dohamandate; explicit in the inclusion of
all forms of support for exports, less clear is the timetable for making reductions
and whether complete elimination is the aim.
"The
Doha mandate is also about export credits and surplus disposal in the guise of
'food aid,' used mainly by the US.
It is about export monopolies, whether Canadian, Australian or from New Zealand,
an area where the absence of any disciplines allows both US and Canada to claim
victory in the recent dispute on the Canadian Wheat Board. It is also about other,
less discussed forms of export distortion, as the impact of the differential export
tax in Argentina on its soybean trade indicates.
"The second precondition
relates to disciplines on domestic support. When it comes to internal farm support,
the Doha Declaration also makes it clear that priority has to go to disciplining
most those policies which distort trade the most.
"It is high time, too,
that there was general recognition that the whole purpose of the WTO is not to
do away with farm policies. Its long-term objective is to do so with support aid
which has a negative impact on international trade, which squeezes prices or harms
the developing countries.
"Equally, though,
schemes to remunerate other services provided by agriculture, and which have no
impact or minimal on trade, should be left alone. Attacking such measures in the
context of the WTO talks, this type of debate does not help the developing countries
one iota.
"It is extremely cynical
to suggest that the EU just has to sacrifice its farmers and paradise will descend
on the Developing World. This is why I insist that, when it comes to reducing
domestic support, the negotiations should aim to implement the Doha mandate properly.
"And this mandate clearly
reflects what the WTO was set to promote in agriculture; our goal must remain
to discipline the most trade-distorting farm policies and force reforms where
necessary.
"It was never our goal
to penalise reform by introducing a higher degree of reduction for those policies
that explicitly facilitate reform, neither was it meant to rubber-stamp exemptions
for some of the most trade or environmentally distorting subsidies when used by
the most advanced developing countries.
"In addition to these
preconditions, I think that a successful re-launching of the Doha Round requires
a closer look into the developing countries, especially the poorest among them.
"If the poorest countries
are to benefit from trade liberalisation, they need to be given considerably more
market opportunities and help in meeting international production standards. And
at this point I would like to enlarge on what the EU is offering the developing
countries.
"Among the many critical
issues which we have to address if we want to win the developing countries to
our side, market access is certainly a difficult one, along with other commitments
on internal support and subsidies. This is where separate and differential treatment
comes in. Because the real issue we have to face in this Round is not a theoretical
debate about trade preferences. We should derive concrete conclusions about the
impact of such preferences based on specific analysis. But the pertinent issue
for the Doha Round is elsewhere; it is in the impact that preference erosion will
have on many developing countries.
"And the solution to
this problem does only require that we rethink development measures, but that
we also consider specific trade measures within the next Agreement.
"On internal support,
it remains our priority to ensure that schemes promoting the viability of rural
communities or food security for developing countries as a weapon against poverty
should be accepted.
"On market access,
particularly increased access for developing country products, we continue to
insist that the industrial countries and the wealthiest developing countries should
be conceding wide-ranging trade preferences to the real developing countries and
especially the least developed developing countries.
"We are also calling
for stable and predictable preferences, because such dependability is a precondition
for further investment and the development of the food and agriculture sector
in developing countries.
"Although we must
continue to press for clarification of these critical development issues, I believe
that the proposals currently under debate in the WTO show very well that separate
and differential treatment is a major topic and that there is scope for helping
the developing countries in this way.
"To
end with, I would like to say a few words about cotton, which proved to be such
a sensitive issue in Cancún. There appears to be an emerging consensus in
Geneva to
treat the trade-related issues concerning cotton, such as market access and the
level and form of subsidies, in the context of the agricultural negotiations.
"The financial and
technical assistance issues, on the other hand, should be addressed through the
appropriate international forums outside the WTO, either as part of bilateral
development co-operation or through international bodies like the World Bank.
"Which brings me to
the remaining question of, Where now? Given that the DDA [Doha Development Agenda]
has started, stopped, started and stopped again, do we still believe that we can
get the talks off the ground?
"We have, out of our
commitment to the poorer countries, out of our commitment to our citizens and
out of the commitment that we signed onto in Doha, to create a fairer platform
for world trade.
"As Sir Winston Churchill
said, 'A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees
the opportunity in every difficulty.' We cannot afford to be pessimistic at this
stage, or to talk about the what ifs. We need to invest all our energies into
getting the talks back on track.
"In this respect there
have been, and there will continue to be concerted diplomatic efforts. For its
part, the EU remains fully committed to the Development Agenda and our offer remains
firmly on the table. If others start to match our efforts and our proposals, then
we can begin talking business.
"Having secured a
fair deal for EU farmers and a fair market return for EU consumers in last summer's
CAP
[Common Agricultural Policy] reform agreement, it remains a priority for us to
achieve the same in the international negotiations."
|
Press Contacts:
|
Anthony Gooch
202-862-9523
|
Maeve O'Beirne
202-862-9549
|
