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TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Mar24/04) Abu Dhabi, 1 Mar (D. Ravi Kanth) — Differences over the draft texts on agriculture and fisheries subsidies issued on 1 March seem to have snowballed with no meeting ground on the issues among heads of delegation, including on the Abu Dhabi Ministerial Declaration, following which discussions were suspended indefinitely, said delegates familiar with the discussions. It appears that the chair of MC13, Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade of the United Arab Emirates, along with the Director-General Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala are expected to hold a meeting with the trade ministers of the United States, the European Union, China, India and Brazil on the most sensitive issues in agriculture, such as the permanent solution for public stockholding (PSH) programs for food security and time-lines on domestic support among others, said delegates familiar with the development. It appears that the DG is putting pressure on the host to prevail on countries like India over the PSH issue, said a source who preferred not to be identified. Following India’s tough stance against the controversial plurilateral Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement, the WTO establishment’s attitude against New Delhi seems to have become worse, said delegates familiar with the discussions. Brazil said that “the chair’s text was a positive rendition. Rev.1 has passed the lens of those most interested in agriculture. To get an agreement, the basis for that is equivalence in language among the different elements of the agriculture discussion. This is where the balance lies. Whether they are connected or interlinked is a discussion to be had after the conference. Equivalence of expectation – cannot bank on extreme expectations.” AGRICULTURE It appears that two texts – a short text prepared by the minister-facilitator for agriculture and the other by the European Union – were shared with the five countries, first bilaterally and later discussed in a “green room” meeting, said delegates familiar with the two texts. Brazil is understood to have pressed for clear time-lines on domestic support and market access, an issue on which the US and the EU are not so keen to have specificity on time-lines, said delegates familiar with the discussions. On the other hand, India, which has been demanding an outcome on the mandated issue of the permanent solution for public stockholding (PSH) programs for food security, seems to have made it clear that regardless of the texts, it wants an agreement on the permanent solution on PSH and a Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM) for developing countries at the Abu Dhabi meeting, said delegates familiar with the development. Before the meeting between these countries, several small-group meetings were held throughout the day with little success in bringing about convergence on several key elements, said delegates who asked not to be quoted. Meanwhile, differences over the draft texts on fisheries subsidies and the MC13 Outcome Document shared with key members are yet to be resolved in a meaningful way, said delegates who asked not to be quoted. LAST-MINUTE DEALS It appears that last-minute deals being struck in “green room” meetings with low ambition could still face potential deadlocks, said delegates who asked not to be quoted. On agriculture, two texts are on the table, namely, a revised EU text with the Cairns Group proposals and another short text presented by the chair. The short text has not been seen by anyone except those in the green room. Sources said that the issue of PSH has been completely left out with general mandates across all agriculture pillars. On fisheries subsidies, the issues of 200 nautical miles limit and the proposed 0.8% de minimis appear to have been settled but the transition period for the Article B.3 Members is not yet decided. On the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions, two options exist, namely, the termination of the moratorium or a continuation of the moratorium for another two years. New elements have been added to the Work Programme on E-commerce section of the text including the creation of a fund, mandating work on the scope and clarification of electronic transmissions covered under the moratorium, and including international organisations in the work on e-commerce. This is not yet settled as much depends on the moratorium. On dispute settlement (DS) reform, there is silence still on the Appellate Body. A modest outcome is expected with a mere acknowledgement of the work and for an inclusive and transparent process. The proposal to formalize the discussions taking place on DS reform has been rejected. On the MC13 Outcome Document, major divergences persist on the issues of trade and inclusion, trade and environment, trade and industrial policy, etc. It is now moving towards a slimmed-down declaration keeping contentious issues out of the document, if there is to be a multilateral Outcome Document of MC13. +
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