DOHA, Qatar – The new round of world trade talks that is set to start early in the new year in Geneva, Switzerland, offers Canadian farmers a chance for better trade access, higher prices and less competition from subsidized foreign product, say Canadian government officials and farm leaders.
“I am very proud of what we have done on agriculture, which is the most important element,” trade minister Pierre Pettigrew said Nov. 14 after 142 member countries of the World Trade Organization agreed to launch a new comprehensive trade negotiation.
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“Now, we will have a real crack at progress on phasing out export subsidies and substantially reducing domestic subsidies,” he said.
“This is a great day for Canadian farmers.”
But farmers should not expect results soon.
Negotiators in Qatar set a three-year time limit on the talks but skeptics pointed out that it took them six tense days to patch together an agreement on what would be negotiated. It was supposed to take five days and almost collapsed several times before an all-night bargaining session Nov. 13-14 started to produce compromises, including some on agriculture.
While Canadian agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief was optimistic about the round’s potential, he also seemed skeptical about the timing.
“I think the mandate gives us the tools to go out and get the job done,” he said Nov. 14.
“I don’t know about timing, but if you don’t set a deadline, how do you know when you’re late?”
Canadian farm leaders monitoring the WTO meeting also were enthusiastic about the outcome. They had feared another failure like the attempt to launch talks at Seattle two years ago.
“I think farmers got a good deal here,” said Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Bob Friesen.
On agriculture, the Doha meeting was not a good one for the Europeans.
They came in insisting that “phasing out” export subsidies could not be a goal of the negotiations, but settled for a disclaimer that the outcome of the negotiations could not be prejudged.
They had insisted that non-trade concerns be elevated in importance to an equal position with subsidy reduction and increased market access. In the face of resistance from the Cairns Group of small- and medium-sized exporting countries, they settled for having it “noted” as a negotiation item.
Canada, with the third largest delegation next to Japan and France, was credited with playing a strong role both in standing firm against EU positions and in helping forge a compromise on export subsidies that led to a deal on agriculture.
But the deal has several contentious points and vague phrases that could end up giving negotiators headaches.
The export subsidy compromise added a phrase that said the outcome of negotiations was not predetermined. Cairns ministers said that referred to the uncertainty of a resolution in negotiations, but the EU said it meant the goal is not necessarily to phase out export subsidies.
In a section on sustainable development, the text says no country should be stopped from “taking measures for the protection of human, animal or plant life or health or of the environment at the levels it considers appropriate.”
The EU later insisted that means the right for “precaution and labelling” of products not proven safe. Canadian officials insist that cannot be a back door leading to tighter controls on trade in genetically modified products.
