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Agriculture issue back in WTO spotlight
By Dai Yan (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-03-25 08:40

China will play an active role in the new round of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations, which resumed on Monday focusing on agriculture.

The discussions will build on the work done as part of the Doha Agenda Development round, experts say.

China has been looking forward to resuming the talks and expects that WTO members will use the opportunity to restore confidence and increase trust, according to an unnamed official from the Ministry of Commerce.

China is attaching a great deal of importance to the agricultural issues considered key to the talks, he added.

The week-long meeting on agriculture in Geneva is the first formal gathering on agriculture since the Doha Agenda Development collapsed in Cancun, Mexico, in September.

The official said China's position on agriculture issues are, in many aspects, close to those of the Cairns Group of Agriculture Exporting Countries. The group includes more than 10 countries including Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Thailand.

China also believes the US proposal which asks for agreement over a date to eliminate agricultural export subsidies, in a bid to push the stalled global trade talks, is constructive.

The proposal was made by US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick in January in a letter to his 146 WTO ministerial colleagues.

"We think that an early conclusion of a package of win-win agreements from the new round would serve not only the interests of the developed members, but also the developing members," he said.

However, Long Guoqiang, a researcher from the Development and Research Centre under the State Council, anticipates that members will not put high expectations on the new round of talks ending by the set deadline.

"But a kind of symbolic agreement on the framework of negotiation may be reached, which will offer fresh impetus to the stalled talks," Long said.

The Doha round is scheduled for completion by the start of January.

The Cancun meeting failed as developing and developed countries were split over the agricultural issue. Farming is a major source of employment and income for developing nations, but is economically and politically important in the United States, the European Union (EU) and other countries that dole out millions of dollars in subsidies to support prices and production.

A group of developing nations led by Brazil has repeatedly demanded for an end to the subsidies that rich nations pay to their farmers. The United States spent about US$18.7 billion on farm subsidies in 2003, according to the US Department of Agriculture, while Europe spends roughly US$50 billion annually on rural development and its common agricultural policy.

But signs of flexibility and willingness to get the Doha talks back on track have started to appear, Long said.

Zoellick has made the offer of eliminating some supports, but in return wants Brazil and its allies to eliminate barriers, such as tariffs and quotas, that limit exports to those nations.

The EU is prepared to discuss the elimination of agricultural export subsidies on all products, Franz Fischler, the EU agriculture minister, said on Monday.

The Cairns and G20 groups, representing developing countries, agreed last week to work together to achieve common goals in international trade in agriculture.

They have resolved to achieve the elimination of export subsidies and significant reductions in trade-distorting domestic support, which are milestone moves if they come to fruition.

Long, however, said differences were so wide the January 2005 deadline is looking increasingly out of reach.

"But, at least, the current move will keep 2004 from becoming a wasted year for the WTO," Long said.

Many countries have shifted away from the multilateral trade system to bilateral trading agreements or regional bloc agreements.

And in the western hemisphere, the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, will expand. The United States is also talking with many partners in an attempt to create bilateral free trade pacts.

In the eastern hemisphere, new bilateral plans for FTAs are appearing in many areas.

The ministry official also added that new members of the WTO, like China, enjoy special status during the Doha round and should be granted special and differential treatment.

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