ISLAMABAD, Dec 18: The government, in collaboration with the stakeholders, should draw a list of items to be designated as sensitive products - not subject to duty reduction - and explore greater market access for agriculture produce.

The 148-member countries of WTO are scheduled to work out an agreed formula for duty reduction on agriculture products with specified time period, removing export subsidies and all trade distorting support by December 2005.

A researcher on agriculture issues, Qasim Shah told Dawn that Pakistan needed to designate some products as Sensitive

Products and their number could be proportionately higher than those maintained by developed countries.

Besides this, he said that Pakistan would also have access to Special Safeguard Mechanism that could be used if there was any dumping of agricultural products, he stated.

Under the July package signed by WTO member countries in July 2004, in the agriculture sector, the member countries agreed to move towards a fairer and more market oriented trading system in the three areas - export subsidies, domestic support and market access.

The export subsidies would be eliminated in a phased manner by a date certain to be negotiated in the post-July negotiations.

The domestic support would be cut substantially through a tiered formula, which would cut higher subsidies more steeply.

These measures would only affect richer countries, which dole out lavish subsidies to their farmers. All trade-distorting domestic support will be reduced through a tiered formula, he added.

Following the elimination of all subsidies, it was estimated that Pakistan would earn $2-3 billion in export of milk products, cotton farmers would gain about $300 million and export at least 400,000 to 5000,000 tons of sugar in the near future. That could easily translate into a gain of $100 million.

With the opening up of restricted markets of rice regime, Pakistan's rice could fetch better prices and could gain of over $200 million, he added.

Interestingly, the ministry of food, agriculture and livestock (Minfal) has just recently established a cell for dealing with agriculture related issues to finalize the modalities for starting negotiations on agreement on agriculture (AOA).

The Sustainable Agriculture Action Group (SAAG)- a coalition of civil society and farmers group in Pakistan, in a report termed the July package to do little to address the problem of export dumping, which was undermining food security and food sovereignty world-wide to the benefit of multinational agri-business companies.

According to SAAG, despite massive subsidies, developed countries have also used high tariffs by using special safeguards measures (SSG) to successfully block imports from developing countries. While the SSG measures were still under negotiations and might continue for quite some time in developed countries but at the same time the developed countries came up with a demand of sensitive products to protect their farmers. - MZK