Strasbourg, 07/04/2006 (Agence Europe) - Ahead of the end of April deadline, by which time the 149 member countries of the WTO must have decided on the details (figures and other provisions) for the agricultural and manufactured products (NAMA) planks, the Parliament adopted, by 493 votes in favour, 103 against and 25 abstentions, the report by Greek member Georgios Papastamkos (EPP-ED) on the state of play with the Doha negotiations, calling for greater commitment on the part of the three major players who hold the success of the Round in their hands, the European Union, United States and G-20 group of emerging countries (Brazil, India, South Africa, Argentina, Mexico and others). Speaking out against the "slowness of progress made to date in the negotiations and the low levels of the ambitions stated" in Hong Kong, and pointing out that a breakdown in multilateral negotiations would lead to the generalisation of bilateral agreements which are harmful to the developing countries (DCs), the EP calls on the "industrialised and advanced developing countries to do all in their power to make Doha the development round to feed into the Millennium objectives". Furthermore, it calls upon the Commission to draw up a "spare action plan, should the Doha negotiations break down". Noting that the commitments taken by the Commission in the field of agriculture "cannot exceed the framework of the regime in force for the CAP, nor the negotiation mandate" conferred upon it by the Council, the EP stresses how important it is for the round of negotiations underway "not to be based on agricultural issues alone" and that all planks (agriculture, industry and services) should be tackled in parallel, under the principle of the single undertaking.
Agricultural plank- On internal support, the EP points out that as part of the CAP reform of 2003, the Union has significantly reduced aid which leads to trade distortions, and calls for specific commitments on this from the Union's other commercial partners. On export subsidies, it lays emphasis on the need for "strict parallelism" between all its forms (export credits and food aid in the United States, State commercial undertakings in Canada, Australia and New Zealand) in parallel with the offer made by the Union to remove its export refund system by 2013. On market access, the EP considers that a limited degree of flexibility is necessary, by dint of the formula of tariff reductions and the designation of sensitive products. In this context, it welcomes the introduction of formulae for special products and the special safeguard clause responding to the requirements of the DCs, guaranteeing them a degree of leeway to preserve their food security and rural lifestyle. On the cotton plank, the EP welcomes the agreement whereby the rich countries will withdraw their export subsidies by the end of 2006 and the granting of customs duty-free access and cotton export quotas for the least-developed countries. However, it pointed out that the essential question remains internal support, particularly American internal support. On geographical indications, the EP criticises the lack of progress made, particularly in negotiations on a wines and spirits register.
Non-agricultural plank - The EP reaffirms the requirement for negotiations on the NAMA to lead to ambitious and well-balanced results "guaranteeing new and genuine market access possibilities, including South-South trade", by means of considerable reductions in duty applied and taking account of the special and differentiated treatment (SDT) called for by the LDCs. In this context, the EP welcomes the use that has been made of the "Swiss formula" of tariff reduction, which will also allow less than total reciprocity on tariff reductions for the DCs (including the emerging countries). In the absence of progress in the services plank (the multilateral negotiations started in February), the EP is calling for a tightening-up of negotiations at bilateral and multilateral levels and calls for more emphasis to be laid on the opening-up of the markets in the financial, tourism and distribution sectors, whilst essential public services such as health, education and audiovisual services should remain excluded from the move towards liberalisation.
Development package - As development remains the essential object of the round, the EP welcomes the Hong Kong adoption of the "development package", even though it is less ambitious than anticipated, as duty-free and quota-free access to rich and emerging countries' markets for products from the LDCs excludes 3% of the tariff lines, which cover a handful of products which are crucial for the most vulnerable countries. It also reiterated the importance of appropriate technical assistance to help developing countries to become better integrated into the world of commerce and effectively to implement WTO rules. On this, it supports the extension of the "aid to trade" initiative to the DCs. Furthermore, the EP criticises the slow speed of work on the issue of removing preferences for the DCs and calls on the Commission to make a positive contribution to the drafting of new solutions, both bilaterally and multilaterally, in favour of the stabilisation of raw material prices. It also expresses the view that the SDT should be an integral part of the WTO agreements. Lastly, the EP underlines the importance of bringing a "development box" targeting the LDCs into the agricultural negotiations, in order to allow them to be able to tackle questions related to food safety and employment in rural areas.
Trade facilitation and rules - Welcoming the progress made in this field, the EP calls for multilateral commitments to be taken to increase legal security in the field of commercial defence measures and rules concerning counterfeiting, and for commercial procedures to be simplified and brought up-to-date. In this context, it calls for the WTO mechanisms relative to the application of the TRIPS (intellectual property rights) agreement to be tightened up in order to fight counterfeit products and infringements of European patent law. The EP furthermore calls for increased discipline on anti-dumping rules in order to prevent exploitation of commercial defence instruments, whilst preserving their legitimate use and effectiveness.
Lastly, the EP highlights the need for an "in-depth reform of the WTO". Stressing the work of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in boosting the democratic dimension of the multilateral institution, the EP regrets the fact that its final declarations are not taken account of by the WTO negotiators. Further to the adoption of an amendment by the president of the committee on international trade, the Spanish Socialist Enrique Baron Crespo, the text also stresses the importance of EP representation at all meetings of the WTO and "not only at official ministerial conferences". It therefore calls for a small delegation of MEPs to take part significantly in the meetings to be held in Geneva, in order to respect the deadlines of 30 April and 31 July set by the Hong Kong declaration.