SEE ALSO:
press releases
WTO news
Mike Moore's speeches
Renato Ruggiero's speeches,
1995-99 br>
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Parties to the
two plurilateral agreements said that the establishment of the WTO Committees on
Agriculture and on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, which deal with trade
policy-related matters affecting agricultural products including meat and dairy products,
had cast doubts on the continued usefulness of the Meat and Dairy Agreements.Regarding the supply
of market information on meat and dairy products--a major function of the Meat and Dairy
Councils--the parties noted that they could rely on information prepared regularly by
national and intergovernmental bodies.
For the
reasons above, and considering the "resource constraints faced by governments as well
as the Secretariat", the parties decided to request the WTO Ministerial Conference to
delete the two agreements from the list of plurilateral agreements annexed to the WTO
Agreement.
There are two
other plurilateral agreements annexed to the WTO Agreement: the Agreement on Government
Procurement and the Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft.
Note to Editors:
The
Arrangement Regarding Bovine Meat and the International Dairy Arrangement came into
operation on 1 January 1980 after the Tokyo Round with the objective of expanding and
liberalizing world trade in their respective sectors. Both plurilateral
agreements--renamed the International Bovine Meat Agreement and the International Dairy
Agreement--were annexed to the WTO Agreement.
The WTO
International Meat Council supervises the International Bovine Meat Agreement. It
evaluates the world supply and demand situation for meat, and provides a forum for regular
consultation on all matters affecting international trade in bovine meat (beef, veal and
live cattle), including bilateral and plurilateral commitments on trade in this sector.
The following are members of the Council: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada,
Chad, Colombia, the European Communities (15), Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay,
Romania, South Africa, Switzerland, the United States and Uruguay.
The WTO
International Dairy Council oversees the implementation of the International Dairy
Agreement, which covers all dairy products and lays down minimum export prices for
international trade in certain milk powders, milk fat including butter, and certain
cheeses. In October 1995, the Council suspended the operation of minimum export prices,
noting that the limited membership in the Agreement, and in particular the
non-participation of some major dairy exporting countries, had made the operation of the
minimum-price provisions untenable. The following are parties to the agreement: Argentina,
Bulgaria, Chad, the EC (15), Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Switzerland and Uruguay.
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