G-6 to Meet This Weekend

Geneva The United States will host a meeting this weekend of senior officials and envoys of the Group-of-Six countries the United States, the European Union, Brazil, India, Australia and Japan to discuss the most difficult issues remaining in the Doha Development Agenda agricultural trade negotiations, WTD has learned (see related report this issue).

Though there is no agenda for the two half-day sessions being held in advance of next week's special agriculture session the group is expected to address calls for simulation exercises discussed earlier in the week.

The United States has agreed to conduct the simulations.

Mr. Portman's Comments

Speaking to reporters in Washington yesterday, US Trade Representative Rob Portman said he is anxious to have a bilateral meeting with European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson in advance of a March 10-11 G-6 meeting in London (WTD, 1/30/06). The G-6 agreed last month in Davos that they would hold a ministerial level meeting in March to review progress in the Doha negotiations since last December's Hong Kong ministerial.

Mr. Portman said he had hoped Mr. Mandelson would come to Washington next week for a bilateral but it appeared that was not going to work out.

The USTR will meet with WTO Director General Pascal Lamy next week in Washington.

Mr. Portman briefed members of the Senate Agriculture Committee on the status of the Doha talks and other US trade negotiations in a closed door meeting yesterday morning. He told reporters he wants to be able to tell Congress within the next few months that real progress is being made at the WTO.

Committee Chairman Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga) who was critical of the outcome of the Hong Kong ministerial told reporters he is feeling more hopeful that the negotiators will come up with outlines of a good agriculture package by the April 30 deadline. The committee wants to be able to craft a new farm bill next year with a WTO agreement in place "that will allow us to put more programs into the green box and the blue box" of less-trade distorting support programs, he said.

The senator added that committee members expressed concern in the closed door meeting about how the Doha agreement will treat higher-income developing countries like Brazil, which is a major competitor in farm trade.

Should the negotiations not end on time by the end of this year members will have lost an opportunity to have real input into the next US farm bill, one senior Senate staff aide commented earlier in the week. Without at least the outlines of a Doha agreement, senators at least will move ahead unconstrained by disciplines emerging in the negotiations.

Moving a farm bill in committee will occur early next year.