RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/L/89
20October 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-3179)
INTERNATIONAL DAIRY COUNCIL
SECOND SESSION
Note bytheChairperson
1. TheInternational Dairy Council helditssecond session on17October 1995. Alistof
participants inthesession isattached.
2. TheCouncil examined thesituation andoutlook intheworld market fordairy products, basing
itself onthereport oftheCommittee onCertain Milk Products, ondocumentation provided bythe
Secretariat andoninformation provided byparticipants during themeeting.
3. Following adecline inworld production ofskimmed milkpowder in1994, stock levels inmajor
producing countries werereduced toverylowlevels, contributing tohighworld market prices. World
whole milkpowder production increased in1994, butdidnotkeeppacewithinternational demand,
resulting inworld market prices remaining highinto1995. Therelative weakness oftheUSdollar
alsocontributed tothehighmarket price levels.
4. Whereas world butter andbutter oilproduction continued itslong-term decline, consumption
appears tohavestabilized. Ashort-term increase inexport demand inearly 1995, coupled witha
substantial draw down ofstocks inmajor producing countries, resulted inhighworld market prices
throughout thefirsthalfof1995.
5. World cheese production andconsumption continued togrow inthefirsthalfof1995, and
world market prices remained relatively high, butstock accumulations insome producing countries
contributed toalessbuoyant market situation thanforother dairy products.
6. TheCouncil tooknoteofcertain information submitted inreply toQuestionnaire 4,concerning
production, consumption, trade andprices forproducts notcovered bytheAnnex onCertain Milk
Products.
7. TheCouncil considered thefunctioning oftheAgreement. Itobserved, withregret, thatthe
limited membership intheAgreement, andinparticular thenon-participation ofsome major dairy
exporting countries, made theoperation oftheminimum price provisions untenable. Inlightofthis
situation, theCouncil decided tosuspend theoperation oftheAnnex totheAgreement (IDA/3). Noting
thatthetaskoftheCommittee onCertain Milk Products wasdirectly related totheimplementation
oftheprovisions oftheAnnex, theCommittee wasalsosuspended until31December 1997.WT/L/89
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8. TheCouncil agreed toconsider theworld market situation foralldairy products atitsnext
meeting. Forthispurpose, theCouncil agreed ontheformat forQuestionnaires 1to4tobesubmitted
inMarch andSeptember ofeachyear.
9. Thenextregular session oftheCouncil isscheduled for19March 1996, subject toconfirmation
bytheSecretariat.WT/L/89
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Participants attheSecond Session -
International Dairy Council
Parties
Argentina
Brazil*
Bulgaria
European Community
Hungary*
Japan
NewZealand
Norway
Romania
Switzerland
Uruguay
Observers
Australia
Canada
Costa Rica
Korea
Mexico
Poland
Separate Customs Territory ofTaiwan, Penghu, Kinmen andMatsu
FAO
*Subject toratification.