CAIRNS GROUP SLAMS EU EXPORT SUPPORT FOR WHEAT
The Cairns group of exporters of agricultural products — including Australia, Argentina and Canada — issued a joint statement on 9 February condemning new EU export subsidies. The EU reinstated export subsidies for wheat on 3 February in a move it defended as compensation for the strengthening of the euro vis-à-vis the US dollar. The new EU price support measure came into place just prior to the latest set of agriculture negotiations at the WTO (see related story, this issue) and will last until June this year. The EU has not paid export support for wheat since 2003, and the measure is set to cover 2 million metric tonnes of wheat. Australia’s WTO Ambassador David Spencer said he regretted the EU move, noting that it did nothing to support the current negotiations, and that "If we are to accomplish the ambitious objectives we’ve set out for this year, we must all exercise maximum restraint in introducing new protectionist measures". In the July Package (WT/L/579, available at http://docsonline.wto.org), countries made a commitment to fully phase out export subsidies and other forms of trade-distorting export support, though the exact date remains to be decided. France and Germany will be the main beneficiaries of the new EU export subsidies.
"Australia’s Vaile to Protest EU Wheat Subsidies as Prices Slide," BLOOMBERG, 27 January 2005; "EU Wheat Export Subsidies Could Hurt WTO Talks-Cairns Grp" AP, 10 February 2005; "EU wheat refunds undermine global trade talks: Cairns," ABC NEWS, 10 February 2005.
‘FRIENDS’ OF ANTI-DUMPING DEMAND ACCELERATED NEGOTIATIONS
Senior officials from countries sharing a common interest in tightening rules governing anti-dumping investigations and measures issued a joint statement on 11 February calling for accelerated WTO negotiations on anti-dumping rules.
Drawing from a ’stock-taking’ meeting held by the ‘Friends of Anti-dumping Negotiations’ the day before, the declaration says that negotiations on anti-dumping disciplines must see ‘parallel and substantive’ progress alongside other talks. Participants expressed hope that text-based negotiations would begin as soon as possible, especially given discussions within the group in January regarding the possibility of its members putting together a comprehensive negotiating text based upon their proposals (see BRIDGES Weekly, 26 January 2005, http://www.ictsd.org/weekly/05-01-26/WTOinbrief.htm).
The Declaration puts forward six negotiating objectives that reflect their high-priority objectives: mitigating the ‘excessive effects’ of antidumping measures; preventing such measures from becoming permanent; strengthening the due process and transparency of dumping proceedings; reducing the cost of antidumping cases (often prohibitive to small firms); ensuring a quick end to unjustifiable investigations; and improving and clarifying rules on what constitutes ‘dumping’ and ‘injury.’
The ‘Friends of Anti-dumping Negotiations’ include Brazil, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica, Israel, Norway, Switzerland, India and Colombia. Not all the ‘Friends’ signed the declaration.
"Friends Group Urges Faster Progress, Text-Based Negotiation of AD Reform in WTO," WTO REPORTER, 15 February 2005.