Agriculture

By EDU LOPEZThe issue on heavy farm subsidies in the developed world that has derailed the finalization of global trade rules under the World Trade Organization (WTO) since the Seattle debacle a few years back, may again stall ongoing talks.
Philippine agriculture attache to Geneva Jojo Lazaro, has disclosed that the biggest threat to the talks was a new law passed by the US Congress on farm subsidy.
The US congress has approved a farm subsidy law that gives to US farmers practically all the subsidies they enjoyed in the past, Lazaro said.
A negotiating bloc of developing countries led by the Philippines and India had demanded in past negotiations to make deep cuts in farm subsidies in Europe, the United States and Japan as a pre-condition to returning to the negotiation table.
In the eleventh hour during the last round of negotiations in Hong Kong last year, Europe made commitments to slash farm subsidies in European Union member-countries to save the WTO talks from total collapse. The US has not made similar commitments.
Meanwhile, on the negotiating table for non-agricultural market access (NAMA) that covers manufactured goods including fishery and forest products, senior trade negotiator Thomas Aquino shared that negotiators have approved the Swiss formula in tariff cuts on imports.
The Swiss formula, he assured, will be favorable to both Filipino exporters and domestic industries as it gives less developed countries like the Philippines flexibilities on tariff cuts depending on its offensive and defensive interests.
Domestic industries that compete with imported goods from neighboring countries have long been warning negotiators not to throw the country wide open to imports to allow them to fairly compete.
In the negotiation front on trade in services, Margarita Songco, NEDA deputy director general, said that several drafts have been solicited from seven groups of countries and were used in coming out with a draft agreement.
A consolidated draft was not approved due to some concerns raised by Venezuela, Bolivia and Cuba