Starting to Write a Text on Agriculture

Geneva Doha Development Agenda agriculture trade negotiations Chairman Crawford Falconer yesterday began his first attempt to build a text for negotiating modalities by posing questions to members on the central elements of a final agreement trade-distorting domestic support, export competition and market access (WTD, 2/9/06).

The chairman told WTD that he intends to start preparing the groundwork for text-based negotiations in a special negotiating session starting on Monday. The time has come to achieve rapid progress in all areas of the farm negotiations, he said.

In a letter circulated yesterday, Mr. Falconer asked members to come to the meeting with "answers" to sharply focused questions. The week-long meeting should result in a "working hypotheses," he said.

The 18-page "non-exhaustive list of questions" touched on all key issues in the three pillars.

First, the chairman wants to hear how members can converge on the thresholds for the four agreed tariff bands as well as the reductions in each band. He also asked members to suggest ways to resolve the tariff-cap issue whether it should be kept and, if so, what it should be for developed and developing countries.

Citing work done on sensitive products, Mr. Falconer asked how members can get "further convergence over what is the appropriate number of tariff lines to be treated as sensitive products" and whether they can establish a relationship between tariff reductions and combinations of tariff-quota commitments to realize substantial improvement in market access.

Members also are being asked whether they can come together "over the basis on which quotas are to be increased" pro rata based on current quotas with a benchmark based on domestic consumption, based only on domestic consumption or based on current levels of imports. Also asked is how the requirement to take into account deviations from the tariff formula should be applied.

Tariff Escalation

In addition, Ambassador Falconer wants to know how tariff escalation can be addressed through a general, agreed formula or one devised only to address tariff escalation. Members also should provide a clear answer to whether the current special agricultural safeguard should be continued for developed countries. "If not, how and when will this be effected? If so, what should be its scope and application?"

On "special products" for developing countries, the chair said members must decide the appropriate number of tariff lines that can be self-designated based on the criteria of "food security, livelihood security and rural development."

Answers on "more flexible treatment" for eligibility of special products for developing countries also are needed. In the letter, Mr. Falconer also asked members to decide the criteria for a special safeguard mechanism and whether there should be self-selection.

Questions also touched on other difficult market-access issues such as tropical and diversification products, preferences "to what extent can the long-standing preferences and preference erosion be addressed" and special flexibility for recently acceded members.

Commenting on "cotton", the chair said members should provide answers on what could be the level of a "more ambitious" reduction in trade-distorting domestic subsidies for producers and how this would translate in relation to the Aggregate Measurement of Support, the de minimis exception and the new "blue box" of farm support programs.

The chairman also wants to know if members are willing to move further on the issue of Geographical Indications of particular importance to the European Union.

Regarding domestic supports, Ambassador Falconer wants to know whether members will accept three thresholds as discussed so far zero to $10 billion, $10 billion to $60 billion and above $60 billion in overall cuts in trade-distorting domestic support. What should be the final bound total AMS and what can be permitted for de minimis levels and the "blue box". He asked whether members can converge on a cut in trade-distorting support between 70 percent and 80 percent if above $60 billion; 53 percent to 75 percent between $10 billion and $60 billion and 31 percent to 75 percent supports between up to $10 billion.

The questions also touched on the de minimis exception how to bring further convergence on the reduction given the existing "zone of engagement" for developed countries for cuts between 50 percent and 80 percent.

On the "blue box" specifically, Chairman Falconer asked whether it should be constrained by shrinking the current ceiling from 5 percent of the value of products, by additional criteria disciplining the "new" and/or "old" "blue box" or "by a combination of both reductions and new disciplines."