WTO Ag Chairman Sets Six-Week Intensive Schedule
The goal is to have a comprehensive draft text on agriculture circulated to WTO members in mid-June.
Compiled by staff
Published: May 1, 2006
WTO Doha Round negotiations are expected to accelerate as time runs short. Last week, the April 30 trade meeting in Geneva, Switzerland was canceled as it became clear the deadline to reach agreement on the modalities for agriculture would be missed.
Crawford Falconer, World Trade Organization chairman of the agricultural negotiations, is setting a six-week schedule of intense negotiations that starts this week, with plans to have a comprehensive draft text on agriculture circulated to WTO members in mid-June. That would give negotiators some time to address outstanding issues and make a push to complete the modalities by the end of July.
Falconer is releasing a series of issue-specific papers on export competition, domestic support and market access for WTO members to discuss.
Kevin Natz, U.S. Grains Council director of trade policy, was in Geneva meeting with WTO representatives, who had mixed reactions to the negotiations' progress. "While I received the impression that the process is now slowing moving forward, and there was some optimism in Geneva in response to the change in Falconer's approach, there is an incredible amount of work to be done and not much time to do it," Natz says.
While some aspects of the export competition section - such as export credits and state trading enterprises - are progressing, food aid and the overall market access pillar continue to be cause for concern.
U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman, Deputy USTR Susan Schwab and Chief Agriculture Negotiator Richard Crowder travel to Geneva for meetings on the Doha Development Agenda. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns and Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services J.B. Penn will also join the delegation.
Monday the U.S. delegations plans are to meet with Brazilian Minister for Trade Celso Amorim. Tuesday the delegation is scheduled to meet with WTO Director General Pascal Lamy, representatives from the G20 group of developing nations interested in agriculture and head leaders from Australia, Japan and the Cairns Group. Representatives from the African Group and least develop countries, group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries and WTO negotiating group chairs are scheduled for Wednesday.
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