The Hindu Business Line : No concrete proposals yet in WTO farm talks

THE World Trade Organisation (WTO) is yet to see any concrete proposal from major nations that hold the key to achieving a breakthrough in the talks on Agreement on Agriculture.

"While the tone of the meetings in Geneva during talks last month was positive, we have not yet seen any sign from the major players that they are prepared to show any new flexibility," diplomatic sources told Business Line.

However, the talks, held during the third week of March, witnessed a "general support for attempting to produce a framework text on agriculture by the middle of this year", the sources said.

"Flexibility on the part of these major players is necessary if we are to achieve any breakthrough by July."

The Cairns group of nations, which depends on exports of agricultural products for the survival of economy, is keen on having a framework for the farm agreement ready.

But the sources said that though there appeared to be some political commitment, "there is a long way to go before we can say definitively that it (some consensus) will be achieved".

One development that has made almost all WTO members happy is that a process has now been established for negotiations in the coming months.

These negotiations will be made during periodic meetings, the first of which is slated to be held during April 20-23.

"It (April 20-23 meeting) will be a test of people's commitment to finalising a framework text," the sources said.

Talks to reach the Agreement on Agriculture got stalled in Cancun, Mexico in September last on differences between industrialised and developing nations.

Controversy erupted over developing nations - supported by the Cairns group - asking the industrialised countries to cut subsidies and improve market access.

In turn, developed entities such as Japan and the European Union (EU) demanded inclusion of the "Singapore issues".

The Singapore issues refer to agreements reached at a WTO Ministerial meeting by different countries in December 1996.

As per this, the WTO members agreed to sew up agreements on investment policies, transparency in Government procurement, competition policies and trade facilitation.

These four issues are not substantively linked and the understanding is that a consensus on these could be reached individually.

India, China, African and South American nations have sternly opposed inclusion of these issues to reach the pact in the farm sector.

On the other hand, EU and Japan refuse to concede to demands to cut their subsidies to farmers and lower Customs duty for agricultural products unless developing nations agree to the Singapore issues.

The Cancun meeting was held to review the progress of the WTO Ministerial meeting held at Doha, Qatar in November 2001.

The sources said that another positive development during the Geneva meeting in March was that the US and EU came forward to consider a deadline to end subsidies to their agriculture sector.