Brussels / Oxford, 08/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - A few months from the real kick-off of agricultural negotiations within the World Trade Organisation, after the lengthy phase of positioning that ended in December, European Commissioner Pascal Lamy clarified the terms by which the Union was prepared to move forward: the issue to deal with is not that of knowing whether this sector will be dealt with in a special manner, sector whose difference from other sectors is increasingly obvious, but how, said the Commissioner responsible for the common trade policy, speaking at the Oxford Farming Conference on Thursday. "We have no desire to hold agriculture hostage. Indeed, we want to see substantive and timely results", he said, reaffirming that "the best way of doing that is to launch a new round of negotiations as soon as possible".
"Agriculture is different", so "why should rules that were largely designed in the GATT era for industry be applied to it?", he wondered, before adding: "If there is anyone in the Cairns Group who still believes that, we are simply not going to agree". The Union nevertheless wants to be "proactive and positive" faced with these negotiations, he said, stipulating: "We could have a genuine discussion if the question raised became that of not whether special treatment should be reserved for farming but what". Article 20 of the Marrakech Agreement, which is the basis of the negotiations engaged in in March, stipulates that these negotiations "must take account of different factors, including non-commercial concerns", he recalled.
The "difference" of agriculture in particular takes the form of the "benefits" it brings society, such as the maintenance of the rural populations and rural services, factors that, "in a simple model of loss and profits, are underestimated", Lamy continued, also turning to the "undeniable link between sustainable farming, food safety, the upkeep of the landscape and the environment". Regarding GMOs, genetically modified organisms, for example, "five years ago, it was still possible to simply state that food safety raised no problem, but not now: transparency and consumer choice must prevail", he considered.
The Commissioner whence warned against the risk of "conflict between trade and other policies if clarity is not provided to help us manage the interface", especially with health, consumer safety and the environment, including rules on trade in agriculture. "Commercial rules must not override society's other concerns: we must ensure their compatibility", he went on. According to him this means that "governments members of the WTO must assume the responsibility", otherwise this task will be relegated "to a continuous interpretation by dispute settlement panels". This "is not the place where rules must be made", he said, again warning: "If governments were to conclude that these issues were too difficult to deal with, we would further break down the WTO's credibility by sending the decisions back to the judges".
Globalisation is one of the undercurrents that the WTO must deal with and master, so as to "maximise its beneficial aspects and minimise its negative consequences", allow for an update of its "register of rules" and avoid being confronted with "strong resistance from certain parts of civil society who legitimately demand that it take measures to support sustainable development, the environment, health and other areas that overlap with trade". The second is that of the concerns of developing countries (market access, long-term assistance to the creation of institutions, stability, durable economic growth and the reduction of poverty), Lamy continued, recalling that the Union, for its part, has to "revisit these questions". For all these reasons, and also because the pre-established agenda to emerge from the Uruguay Round in view of opening negotiations over agriculture and services "has no timetable, no deadline, and whence no inherent dynamic for negotiations", a round remains necessary. He then placed emphasis on the fact that: "A round remains the best way of reaching a mutually satisfactory conclusion to the pre-established agenda", and "only a broad negotiating agenda, containing the priorities of all, will succeed in both launching and completing this round".