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More on the modalities phase
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That was
the message of an 85-minute oral report presented by Ambassador Crawford
Falconer, chairperson of the agriculture negotiations, to WTO members.
Use this link to download the audio file or to listen to what he said in the
meeting:
 Audio:
Chairperson Crawford Falconer's statement
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Explanation
Ambassador Falconer described in some detail the consultations he has been
holding with some delegations on a number of subjects, particularly:
-
“tariff quota creation” — whether new tariff quotas can be created. This
influences which products can be “sensitive” since sensitive products have
to have tariff quotas. Whether or not new tariff quotas can be created will
determine whether products currently without tariff quotas can be
“sensitive” and partially shielded from tariff cuts. (Tariff quotas are
quotas with lower tariffs on quantities within the quotas and higher tariffs
on quantities outside)
-
“tariff simplification” — whether all tariffs should be converted to
percentages of the products’ prices — where current high prices have changed
countries’ positions
-
“Green Box” domestic support provisions dealing with developing countries’
food purchases for stockpiling and foruse as domestic food aid. (Green Box
supports do not distort markets or cause minimal distortion and are
therefore allowed without limits)
-
“sensitive products” — these will be partly shielded from the full force
of the tariff-reduction formula, but some market access has to be offered
through tariff quotas
-
the “special safeguard mechanism” (SSM) for
developing countries, a mechanism allowing tariffs to be raised temporarily
to deal with import surges or price falls — see also
unofficial explanation.
-
cotton — where trade-distorting domestic support will be cut deeper and
faster than support on other products.
Explanations of these and other subjects are
available for the chairperson’s
11 August 2008 report
and 10 July
2008 draft.
His account of the situation in tariff simplification includes references to
the “Paris methodology”. This is a method for converting other forms of
tariffs into percentages of the value (“ad valorem” equivalents or AVEs),
which took several months to negotiate, culminating in a meeting in Paris on
the sidelines of a meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) in May 2005. The highly technical method was reproduced
in Annex A of the 2006 draft “modalities”,
with additional information in a series of Secretariat documents.
This meeting
This was an informal agriculture negotiations meeting of the full
membership, officially an “Informal Open-Ended Special Session” of the
Agriculture Committee.
The latest texts and a number of related issues can be found with
explanations here, including what
“the text” is and says, and a “jargon buster”.
The chairperson refers to “Room E” or “Room D” meetings. These are talks
among a group of 37 representative delegations, also part of the
“multilateral process”. They normally take place in Room E at the WTO
headquarters, but sometimes in another room (eg, Room D). Ultimately, the
current phase of the negotiations is about “modalities”, explained
here.
Ambassador Falconer uses the term “walks in the woods” to describe
consultations outside the WTO. He has explained that these involve about 15
delegations, the exact numbers depending on the subject.
He has also confirmed that he will be returning to New Zealand by the end of
the year to take up a new appointment, as announced in August.
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