April 1, 2003	Tuesday	Muharram 28, 1424

GENEVA, March 31: The 145-member WTO countries failed here on Monday to develop consensus on modalities for cutting tariffs and subsidies on agriculture products to facilitate trade among developing and developed countries.

Official sources in the WTO secretariat told Dawn that chairman of the Committee on Agriculture (COA), Stuart Harbinson, set the next special session of the COA to be held in June/July 2003 to assess the work and continue consultation among members. Meanwhile, the chairman will also continue consultations to identify elements of possible compromise, added the sources.

The sources said that summing up the discussions held from March 25 to 31, the COA chairman concluded that no positive movement was possible on some of the key issues — tariff reduction formula at this stage. Therefore, it was not possible to establish modalities or even to produce a second draft and this was a greater setback for the Doha negotiations, he observed.

The COA chairman was quoted as saying that the members needed to work even harder on the technical issues and strive to bridge the gaps between their positions. Apparently, the task is simple, clear, yet by no means as an easy one, he added.

Pakistan’s Ambassador to the WTO Dr Manzoor Ahmad at the concluding of the COA meeting told Dawn that the substantial reduction in tariffs and subsidies would mean greater market access for Pakistani agriculture products in developed and developing countries.

“If we are able to work out a deal, Pakistan will be able to export its excess sugar, wheat, tobacco, fruits and vegetables and dairy products,” he said, adding Pakistani cotton would fetch better prices for “our farmers and would also result in higher value for cotton yarn and fabrics if the US did not subsidize its cotton.”

He further said that it was vital that export subsidies and domestic support were eliminated as soon as possible, because of these, agriculture commodities were dumped and farmers of the countries like Pakistan were unable to get a good price for their produce.

The ambassador said: “The chairman’s proposal under consideration did not meet our aspirations. We, therefore, will continue to fight for a right package. Otherwise, Pakistan will have to re-think its strategy for proper negotiations in other areas.”

He further elaborated that developed countries dumped agriculture products below the cost price in developing countries in case of wheat, the US subsidized it by 40 per cent; cotton by 57 per cent, rice by 22 per cent and sugar by 50 per cent.

Sources further elaborating the failure of the meeting said basically the United States and the Cairns group (major agriculture exporting countries, including Australia, Canada and Brazil), and supported by other developing countries, including Pakistan, were going for immediate reforms, and they felt that the proposal set by the COA chairman did not meet their expectations.

On the other hand the European Union, Japan, Korea, Norway, Switzerland and some other developing countries, including India, were of the view that the proposal go too far. Both sides refused to change their positions, and thus could not meet the deadline of March 31 set for the modalities, added the sources.