Group hits US attempt to push bilateral trade pact with RP

A civil society group is claiming the United States (US) is dangling bilateral trade deals in a bid to weaken the position of the Philippine government in the ongoing negotiations of the World Trade Organizatons (WTO) in Geneva.

The group, Rice Watch and Action Network (RI), said US trade representatives have been exerting extra pressure on negotiators to agree to bilateral trade deals that would effectively compromise the country’s efforts to shield vulnerable agriculture and non-agriculture commodities from further tariff reduction and trade liberalization.

"The US continues to stamp on our sovereign right as a nation to defend our local agriculture and industries against unbalanced and unfair trade competition," said Jessica Reyes-Cantos, lead convenor of R1.

R1, one of non-government organizations actively monitoring the WTO negotiations said it received information that the US is lobbying for liberalized entry of US corn, vegetables, pork, chicken, beef, among others, into the Philippine market.

"The US presented this list to our trade negotiators in Geneva even as the Philippines along with other developing country members of the WTO are fighting for increased tariff protection under the Special Products (SP) and Special Safeguard Mechanisms (SSM)," said Cantos.

SPs refer to agricultural products that need tariff protection while SSMs refer to sensitive products that require more preferential treatment other than being shielded from tariff cuts. These could include imposing quantitative restrictions on products such as rice and corn.

Developing countries like the Philippines are pushing for greater flexibilities to assign their SPs and creating SSMs relevant to specific needs of developing countries because they are more susceptible to inflation adjustments and fluctuations in the foreign exchange rates and markets. Often, developing countries are forced to price their export products at below production costs.

Cantos said US Trade Representative director for agriculture negotiations Jason Hafemeister and agriculture counselor in Geneva David Miller are conducting bilateral talks with the Philippines to discuss the possible outcomes of the ongoing negotiations on SP and SSM in Geneva.

They reportedly presented the list of products for which they are seeking further market access to the Philippines.

"The US trade negotiators are desperately trying to convince our own government leaders that they are pursuing bilateral talks even in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) meetings," said Cantos.

Cantos urged RP WTO negotiators to stand firm and heed the appeal of local producers that these be included in the SP to be given increased tariff protection.

She said the agricultural products the US wants to be liberalized are the very same susceptible products local farm producers want included in the SP category because they are not fit to fight the entry of foreign competition.

These include the poultry, livestock and corn sectors which account for 35 percent of the total value of agriculture.

In the case of the poultry sector, the ones that would be hardest hit with the entry of cheap chicken imports from the US would be the backyard raisers that comprise 80 percent of the entire poultry industry, with the rest controlled by big poultry integrators such as San Miguel Foods Inc. Swifts Foods and Tyson-AgroVentures.

"The figures show the stark reality of economic dislocation and unfair competition with the liberalized entry of these products into our local market," said Cantos.

Cantos said R1 is set to present a petition signed by 45 civil society organizations from the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Korea, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Kenya, Nigeria, Australia, and Germany to the US Embassy this Thursday as part of a globally coordinated action in support ofthe G33 (Group of 33) position on SP-SSM in the WTO.

G33 is a group of 33 (now 45) developing country members of the WTO ofwhich the Philippines is an active member.<