Global Sugar Alliance members are active participants in processes to improve the world sugar trading environment. Members works closely together to ensure the fair and equal treatment of sugar in the WTO negotiations on agriculture.
WTO Modalities For Further Commitments On Agriculture: SUGAR OBJECTIVES
Published: 30/03/2005
Origin: Colombia
Abstract: The Doha Development Round has reached a watershed. Agreement on modalities for further reform of agriculture at the 5th WTO Ministerial meeting in Canc?n will be critical to the success of the round. The Global Alliance for Sugar Trade Reform and Liberalisation urges all negotiating parties to vigorously pursue agreement on modalities that will result in real and substantial agricultural trade reform and liberalisation as required by the Doha Declaration.
Full Article:
30 March 2005
Cartagena, Colombia
The Doha Development Round has reached a watershed. Agreement on modalities for further reform of agriculture at the 5th WTO Ministerial meeting in Canc?n will be critical to the success of the round. The Global Alliance for Sugar Trade Reform and Liberalisation urges all negotiating parties to vigorously pursue agreement on modalities that will result in real and substantial agricultural trade reform and liberalisation as required by the Doha Declaration.
For several months the agricultural negotiations have languished with no agreement on fundamental elements of the reform modalities for agriculture. Yet the strength of these modalities, particularly on market access, will be fundamental to the outcome of the negotiations and the benefits they deliver for agriculture including sugar.
In non-agricultural areas, the WTO has been successful in reducing subsidies and opening markets, securing the well-known benefits of trade for many industrial goods and services. Despite these achievements and the first step taken in the Uruguay round to address the barriers and distortions affecting agricultural markets, these markets particularly for sugar, remain largely closed. Quotas, prohibitive tariffs, special safeguard duties and other mechanisms restrict access. High domestic price supports and export subsidies further distort trade in sugar.
The Global Sugar Alliance – producers of more than 50 per cent of the world’s sugar and exporters of 85 per cent of the world’s raw sugar – calls for an end to these distortions in the world’s sugar market through positive, progressive and meaningful reforms of sugar trade policies.
The Global Sugar Alliance seeks an integrated approach to the three pillars of trade reform – market access, domestic support and export subsidies – addressing and linking them in a single undertaking with commitments implemented on a product-by-product basis with due recognition of the needs of developing countries. For sugar, this means gains must be achieved for both raw and white sugar as well as sugar-containing products.
A comprehensive agreement on modalities with an overall and defined implementation plan that includes discernable, transparent, measurable steps towards an agreed outcome over a five year implementation period is required.
To deliver the greatest benefits and to ensure the “equal and fair” treatment of sugar along with all other products/commodities it is important the modalities for further commitments on agriculture include:
1. the provision of special and differential treatment for developing countries to be continued and strengthened as an integral part of all three pillars
- an important element of special and differential treatment, is an ability for developing and least developed countries to delay implementation of new commitments and to impose an additional duty to protect their agricultural industries from the harm caused by subsidised competition from major developed countries
2. substantial and meaningful increases in market access, on an individual tariff line basis, no exceptions
- the objective – developed countries to initially increase market access by an amount equal to 20 per cent of domestic consumption
3. the elimination of special agricultural safeguards for developed countries
- the objective – elimination for developed countries in year one of the agreement.
4. substantial reductions in all tariffs using a formula approach that delivers the highest cuts in the highest tariffs and the elimination of all in-quota tariffs
- objective – initially cap out-quota tariffs at a maximum 25 per cent of the import price
5. the elimination of all forms of trade-distorting domestic support
- the objective – fifty per cent of the reduction progressively over the first two years with the balance achieved over the following three years
6. the elimination of export subsidies
- the objective – elimination in equal instalments over three years.
The Global Sugar Alliance is very mindful of the differences between the views of a number of WTO members on agricultural issues and the entrenched views with respect to sugar held by many. This appears to have reduced the level of ambition being sought on the agriculture agenda and, at the same time, has increased the difficulty of achieving fundamental reform of the sugar market. To raise the level of ambition in the negotiations and with it the prospect of securing positive, progressive and meaningful reform of the world sugar market, it is important that an agreement on modalities for further commitments on agriculture be consistent with the reform objectives of the Doha Declaration.
Liberalisation will only bring benefits if major developed countries are prepared to make real concessions.
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