G20 for special products in package

Two prominent groups of developing countries "" the G-20 and the G-33"" today came together to demand the inclusion of provisions pertaining to "special products and special safeguard mechanisms" in the agriculture negotiations, warning that there could be no movement forward unless the developed countries agreed to the proposal.

In response, European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said special products and special safeguard mechanisms were part of the framework agreement and that he supported the developing countries' stance on the issue. Mandelson, however, tried to deflect the issue of agriculture by raising the subject of aid for trade.

"Europe did not come empty-handed on aid for trade," Mandelson said and announced that the 25-member Union had last night agreed to provide ¤1 billion a year in trade related assistance (TRA) from 2010, taking the EU's total TRA assistance to ¤2 billion by 2010.

The G-20, a group of developing countries including India, South Africa, Brazil and Argentina today said a "gateway for special products and special safeguard measures" in agriculture was crucial for moving the talks ahead.

"This is a key issue for the G-20. There is a general view that without agreement on special products and special safeguard mechanisms, other things can't go forward," Celso Amorim, Brazil's foreign affairs minister told reporters here.

Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said the two provisions should find a place in the development package, unlike sensitive products in agriculture, the special products for developing countries were not based on commercial considerations but food security and livelihood.

A declaration issued by the G-20 said agriculture was the central issue of the Doha round. "We must move in agriculture for the other areas to move," the declaration said.

The G-20 is prepared to negotiate agriculture here in Hong Kong. We hope that others are prepared to do likewise," the declaration said.

It pointed out that since export subsidies were the most distorting form of support, ministers in Hong Kong should agree to an immediate standstill on the use of these measures based on existing commitments. Members should agree to a clear and specific work programme in agriculture for 2006 so as to conclude the round by the end of the year.

The G-33, led by Indonesia, said no modalities in agriculture could ever be viable without the elements of special products and special safeguard mechanisms together as a package in the market access pillar.

It said developing countries should be allowed to designate 20 per cent of all tariff lines as special products and be allowed exemption from tariff reduction on these products. The group also demanded that recourse to special safeguard mechanisms should be allowed on the basis of price or quantity of imports.