Brussels, 25/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - Restrictions on exports have only reinforced the spiral of price increases, at the expense of countries which are already fragile, according to the services of Dacian Cioloº, European Commissioner for Agriculture. Speaking before the European agriculture ministers on Monday 24 January, Cioloº took stock of negotiations on the Doha Round (see also EUROPE 10300 on the Doha Round). He stated that the package put by the EU on the table of the WTO in July 2008 “is still current”.
Having broken down in July 2008, discussions have resumed at a technical level to make progress on the sticking points (special safeguard clause, tariff simplification, tropical products, sensitive products, cotton and the “green box” of the WTO). At the negotiation meetings on agriculture held on 6 and 10 December last year, David Walker, the president of the negotiating group on agriculture at the WTO, said that negotiations on agriculture could enter the home straight in the next few months, with a view to producing revised draft “terms and conditions” by the end of March and concluding the Doha Round as a whole by the end of the year. The revised final text must be based on consensus and, when this is not possible, the text must present decision-makers with clear choices, stated a source close to Cioloº.
Several ministers (notably the French and Irish ministers) took the floor to call for greater resolve in trade negotiations, particularly regarding the agreement between the EU and Mercosur, to prevent these agreements from being concluded on the back of the European producers. (L.C./transl.fl)