G10 Press Release

Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research

Geneva, 29.06.2006 - 

1. Ministers of the G10, a group of major importers of agricultural products, restated their determination to establish modalities for agriculture in order to successfully conclude the DDA by the end of 2006. 
   
   
2. They confirmed their willingness to enter into substantial commitments in all three pillars of the agriculture negotiations with a view to reaching an outcome acceptable for all participants.
   
   
3. They reaffirmed their firm opposition to the notion of a tariff cap, which would require a manifestly disproportionate contribution from the G10 and thus lead to an unbalanced overall result.
   
   
4. Ministers urged WTO Members to work pragmatically towards the objective of substantial improvements in market access while taking into account different tariff structures and the sensitivities of all Members, including Non-Trade Concerns, S&D for developing Members and the issues of long-standing preferences and recently acceded Members. 
   
   
5. They further emphasised that the recipe for success lies in the balanced treatment of all three pillars under negotiation: market access, domestic support and export competition, including the S&D components thereof. Recalling the various contributions they already submitted to the negotiations, G10 Ministers agreed on the following points:
   
   
   • The depth of tariff cuts and the number and treatment of sensitive and special products have to be resolved simultaneously.
     
     
   • The number of sensitive products should reflect the real needs of Members. A single number of sensitive products for all Members is thus not appropriate.
     
     
   • The treatment of sensitive products should result in less substantial market access improvements than those achieved by the application of the core tariff reduction formula.
     
     
   • The Special Safeguard Clause (SSG) should be maintained for the duration of the ongoing reform process. The G10 welcomes the introduction of an appropriate SSM for developing countries.
     
     
   • Substantial reductions should be made in overall trade-distorting domestic support as well as in Amber Box measures.
     
     
   • Disciplines should be negotiated to ensure that Blue Box measures are less trade-distorting than Amber Box measures and to prevent box shifting.
     
     
   • Green Box measures are fundamental tools for promoting agriculture reform. Therefore, the basic instruments and principles of the Green Box should be preserved.
     
     
   • The end date for the elimination of all forms of export subsidies will be confirmed only upon completion of disciplines on all export measures with equivalent effects with a view to their parallel phasing out.
     
     
6. Finally, Ministers underscored the necessity to ensure the inclusiveness and transparency of the negotiations. Political ownership of both the process and substance of ongoing negotiations was a prerequisite to the successful conclusion of the DDA.

G10: Iceland, Israel, Japan, Korea, Liechtenstein, Mauritius, Norway, Switzerland, Chinese Taipei.

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Publisher

Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research
http://www.wbf.admin.ch