American Farm Bill endangers WTO talks

GENEVA: A small group of about 35 members, selected by the chair of the special session on agriculture discussing market access in developed and developing countries in the Green Room format have kicked off the WTO Doha Round negotiations on agriculture modalities. According to reports, the developed countries — the EU, Japan and the US — have not shown any signs of offering new concessions, thus preventing developing countries from making any new concessions.

The basis of discussions is the draft modalities paper of chairman Ambassador Crawford Falconer, which was accepted in end July by WTO members as a negotiable paper. At the end of this week, Mr Falconer will convene an informal meeting for all members for general statements and sharing of information, with most developing country members expected to defend their defensive interests and work hard to convince the chair and major players to concede to their positions.

Yet behind the business-like approach many delegations are concerned about the success of the negotiations, and the future if it fails. The blame game has already begun with USTR Susan Schwab, at the pre and post-APEC press briefings, calling Brazil, India, South Africa among those members who are “obstructing” progress, stating that “we are going to know a lot more in two days or a week whether our trading partners are negotiating in good faith”, pointing that a proposed formula in the NAMA text for cutting industrial tariffs applies to only 28 developing countries, however “are those countries going to step up”?

However it is the inability of the administration of President George Bush to have the Fast Track authority renewed, and the uncertainty over the 2007 US Farm Bill passed end July by the House of Representatives, that is casting a long shadow over the negotiations. The Farm Bill 2007 is also strongly criticised by the US administration for not making enough effort to reform and reduce US farm subsidies and making the US more vulnerable to legal action by its WTO partners.