G-33 nations urged to push for flexibility in agri products

Developing countries under the Group of 33 (G-33) which include the Philippines should push for greater flexibility in negotiating for special products (SP), special safeguard mechanisms (SSMs) and tariffs for agricultural commodities to reflect the domestic realities of each member country.

"The current G-33 proposal for special products and special safeguard mechanisms is not suffice to address the realities that are different among G-33 members. The Philippines, for instance, needs a mechanism to increase market protection for its local producers even beyond existing bound rate schedules," said Jessica Reyes-Cantos, lead convenor of non-government organization Rice Watch and Action Network (R1).

She said since countries have inherent differences in the structure, development priorities and level of progress in agriculture, each country should be given more elbow room to negotiate individually with developed countries to ensure protection of their respective agriculture sector.

"Each country under G-33 has different structures that cannot be addressed by coming up with uniform SP and SSMs," said Cantos.

She said while the G-33 made significant breakthroughs in the WTO (World Trade Organization) negotiations over modalities in agriculture by getting the developed countries to agree to establishing SP and SSMs for sensitive agricultural commodities, it is critical to consider the domestic realities of its member countries.

"For the Philippines for instance, the clamor for increased protection even beyond the current GATT (General Agreement on Tariff and Trade) bound rates is steadily gaining ground. Livestock and poultry raisers, vegetable growers and corn producers are lobbying for increased rates to protect their sector from the onslaught of cheaper imports,"said Cantos.

She urged the Department of Agriculture (DA) to adopt recommendations of various agriculture subsectors and incorporate these in the Philippine position to the WTO talks on agriculture.

These include giving developing country members the option to impose higher level of market access protection for products accorded SP status by imposing tariffs higher than current bound rate schedules and quantitative restrictions.

Moreover, the SSM should neutralize trade distortions by allowing importing countries of subsidized goods to impose additional duties to approximate levels of subsidies applied by exporting countries. As such, the presence of a subsidy, as confirmed by immediate country notifications to the WTO and other relevant sources of informations, should be used as one of the triggers for imposing SSM remedies.