Barbados and other islands given an extension to eliminate export subsidies
By Shawn Cumberbatch
Barbados Advocate, Barbados
Nov 10 2004
BARBADOS has been given another year to make the shift from a regime
of export subsidies.
There is a possibility, however, that this island and many others in
the developing world could be given an additional two yearly extensions
under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.
In a decision handed down last week, the WTOs Committee on Subsidies
and Countervailing Measures, said it had extended by another year
(until the end of 2005) the transition period for the elimination
of export subsidy programmes of Barbados and 18 other developing
countries under the implementation decision adopted at the Doha
Ministerial Conference.
Apart from Barbados, there are another eight members of the Caribbean
Community which have had their time extended. These were Antigua and
Barbuda, Belize, Jamaica, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Kitts
and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Other developing countries on the list were Costa Rica, Dominican
Republic, El Salvador, Fiji, Guatemala, Jordan, Mauritius, Panama,
Papua New Guinea, and Uruguay. Officials explained that the WTOs
Subsidies Agreement provided for an eight-year transition period,
in this case until the end of 2002 for most developing countries to
eliminate export subsidies.
However, under the fast-track procedures agreed at Doha, the
Subsidies Committee may grant an annual extension to these countries
until the end of 2007, subject to annual review of transparency and
standstill obligations .
The Committee said it also reviewed status reports of Barbados,
Colombia, El Salvador, Panama and Thailand regarding their subsidy
programmes whose transition periods were extended last year under
the regular procedures .
WTO officials said the Committee had also discussed new legislative
notifications from Argentina, Canada, the European Community (EC),
Japan and Jordan, while it reviewed subsidy notifications from Armenia,
Mongolia and Singapore.
The WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures essentially
disciplines the use of subsidies, and it regulates the actions
countries can take to counter the effects of subsidies. Under the
agreement, Barbados and other member countries could use the WTOs
dispute-settlement procedure to seek the withdrawal of the subsidy
or the removal of its adverse effects. In addition, the country
could launch its own investigation and ultimately charge extra duty,
commonly called a countervailing duty, on subsidised imports found
to be hurting domestic producers. Meanwhile, the trade body noted
that under the transition review mechanism provided for in Chinas
Protocol of Accession, the EC, Japan and the United States urged that
country to notify its subsidies as required by the Subsidies Agreement.
China said it was doing its best to comply, and called for
understanding. It cited difficulties due to the size of the country
and the need to educate officials. China said it would transmit
concerns raised at the meeting to the relevant offices in Beijing.
The US and the EC expressed disappointment with the review, but said
they would work bilaterally with China to make progress in this area.
In the wake of this news from the WTO, European Union (EU) indicated
they would abolish all export subsidies on agricultural products if
the US did the same. This is what EU parliamentarian Paavo Väyrynen
told a parliamentary committee in South Africa on Monday.
Export subsidies to European farmers effectively render African farmers
uncompetitive, despite a free trade agreement between SA and the EU,
as European agricultural products often land in Africa and come on to
the market at selling prices that invariably undercut local producers.
Väyrynen, a former Finnish foreign minister and now an elected
member of the European parliament, was addressing the South African
Parliaments defence committee on the military, trade and diplomatic
implications for SA of the expansion of the EU, which this year
expanded by ten members.
Väyrynen, when asked about the removal of agricultural subsidies,
said: The EU has offered substantial decreases in export subsidies.
It is conditional, of course, that the other countries should be
ready to do the same.
It is a difficult issue in Europe. Farmers are important people in
all the member countries, politically and otherwise. It is clear some
kind of subsidy is necessary in Europe, otherwise there would be no
agriculture, he added..
–Boundary_(ID_B+5cul8tjBoczAm+KEVTEQ)–