WTO group on agriculture struggles to evolve consensus on Nairobi package

With less than a month to go for the 10{+t}{+h} WTO ministerial meet in Nairobi, a substantial package acceptable to all members looks increasingly elusive. The informal session on agriculture negotiations this week failed to narrow the differences between members.

“Three new proposals were submitted. Two were on export competition (pushed by several developed nations) and one was on special safeguard measures for poor farmers made by the G-33 group that includes India. But there was no convergence of views on these,” an official involved in the negotiations told BusinessLine .

The Chairperson of the agriculture negotiations, Ambassador Vangalis Vitalis of New Zealand, in his note, said that while the prospects of a breakthrough appeared bleak at the moment, he would intensify efforts over the next few weeks to get results.

“I ask you all to be ready to meet at extremely short notice and at unsocial hours. We need a high level of engagement from everyone if there are to be worthwhile results at Nairobi,” he said.

Stressing the need for an agreement on export competition that seeks to discipline export subsidies further, Australia said in its paper that the sugar subsidies given by India and export credits given by the US were distorting world trade and needed to be checked.

The European Union, which introduced a joint proposal of a group of countries, including New Zealand and Brazil, proposed that developed countries fully eliminate export subsidies by the end of 2018, and developing countries by the end of 2021.

India and other members of the G-33 group of developing countries with defensive interest in agriculture reiterated their position that a Nairobi pact will not be complete without an agreement on special safeguard measure (SSM) and a permanent solution for treatment of food procurement subsidies.

Indonesia, on behalf of G33, presented a new proposal on special safeguard mechanism, which would allow developing countries to temporarily raise import tariffs on agriculture products in case of import surges.

“The new proposal introduces a few changes – on the products subject to tariff increase, the extent and duration of such increase, and flexibilities for poor countries – to reflect concerns raised by members. But it was still unacceptable to the developed members,” the official said.

Trade ministers from 162 member countries of the World Trade Organisations are meeting in Nairobi on December 15-18 in an attempt to strike a deal on some issues that are part of the Doha Round of talks launched in 2001.

While countries, such as the US, want to discontinue the Doha Round at Nairobi, several others, including India, do not want the Round to end without delivering on its development agenda.

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