RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/AG/W/5
5July1995
ORGANIZATION (95-1855)
Committee onAgriculture Original: English
COMMITTEE ONAGRICULTURE: MEETING OF8JUNE 1995
Statement byEgypt under Agenda ItemIIA:"Decision onMeasures Concerning thePossible
Negative Effects oftheReform Programme onLeast Developed andNetFood-Importing Developing
Countries."
SinceourlastmeetinginMarch,mydelegationhadsomereflectionsonhowtomakethedecision
onthepossible negative effects onleast-developed countries andnetfood-importing developing countries
(LDCs/NIFDCs) operational. Wewould likeatthispoint toshare some ofourthoughts andideas
ontheissue withtheCommittee asthebody entitled tomonitor thefollow-up ofthesaiddecision.
Letmesayattheoutset, thatwehaveallnegotiated thisdecision ingood faithandtogether
weshould helptoimplement itfaithfully. Thedecision byitself isanacknowledgement bythe
international community ofthepossible negative effects arising from theAgreement onAgriculture
andthereform programme onanumber ofcountries. There isadireneedtoassist these countries
toliveuptothedifficulties theyexpect tofacethrough well-thought andspecific measures onthepart
oftheinternational community initsentirety, including therelevant bodies andorganizations.
Thefirstpoint which has-toalargeextent -pre-occupied ushasbeentheissueofeligibility.
Weareallaware ofthefact,thatwhile theLDCs isawelldefined group withbasic United
Nations criteria, thisisnotnecessarily thecaseforother NFIdeveloping countries, anissue which
hasbeensubject tolongandtedious negotiations inthepast. Itiswiththisinmind anddrawing the
parallel withtheinformal group ofdeveloping countries within theWTO, thatwehavethought that
thebestandmostpragmatic waytoproceed onthisissuewould betheself-election approach. Another
reason whyweview thisoption asthemost pragmatic oneisthatwecannot afford -atthispoint -
tobedragged anewintonegotiating criteria while weverywellknow thatthedecision itselfisaddressing
onlyalimited time-bound frame, i.e.theperiod ofthereform programme.
Inprinciple, wecangoalong withthenotification procedures under Article 16.2ofthe
Agreement, which constitutes agood basis formonitoring theimplementation ofthedecision atthe
bilateral levelandwould giveusaclearinsight tothemeasures andactions undertaken bytheMembers
tothisend,asstipulated bythedecision. However, itisalsoimperative totighten theloose ends
regarding themonitoring ofother measures which arealsocarefully addressed inthedecision andare
bynomeans lessimportant inassisting theLDCs/NFIDCs tofacethepossible negative effects ofthe
reform programme. Inthiscontext, letmestatethefollowing.
Inregard toparagraph 5ofthedecision which addresses theeligibility ofaffected countries
todraw ontheresources ofMFIs under existing orpossible newfacilities, though mydelegation is
convinced thattheCommittee hasmuch atstakeincooperating withtherelevant international financial
institutions withaviewtomaking thisparagraph operational, wearealsoaware ofthefactthatthere
areongoing negotiations onthe"Declaration ontheContribution oftheWTO toachieving Greater
Coherence inGlobal Economic Policymaking". Appropriate channels ofcommunications arebeing
explored between WTO andtheMFIs toaddress, interalia,thisissue aswell.
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Though theoutcome ofthese negotiations willhave itsdirect bearing onthework ofthe
Committee andhowweareabout toproceed, itmaybenevertheless worthwhile atthisstage thatthe
Committee onAgriculture explore thepossibility oflaunching anappeal totheMFI's,soastourge
andencourage themtolookfavourably intoimplementing thisparagraph. Atthesame time, wehave
astrong caseforrequesting aneasing oftheconditionalities usually attached totheexisting facilities,
atleastthroughout theperiod ofthereform programme, asthose facilities -toourunderstanding -
should helpprimarily inoffsetting theriseinthefoodimport costs ofthemostly affected countries.
Acaseinpoint forourCommittee tolookatwould be,forexample, theCereal Facility.
Bythesame token, theCommittee hasalsotobekeptinformed onaregular basisofthework
doneinother relevant organs andorganizations which mayhaverepercussions onourwork.
Ibelieve, toallow theCommittee tomonitor thedecision inacomprehensive andsubstantive
manner, intergovernmental bodies suchastheFAO, WFP, theInternational Wheat Council should
beasked totransmit reports, information anddataonthetypeandamount oftechnical assistance they
areproviding tothecountries inquestion inorder tohelpthem facetheadditional burden through
mainly improving theiragricultural productivity, infrastructure andfoodsecurity.
Paragraph 4withregard toexport credits wasalsooneofthemain paragraphs which has
preoccupied ustoalarge extent. Itisnoteasytoperceive howthisparagraph canbeputintoeffect
andwearesurethatitwillnecessitate further work onourpartinorder tomake itoperational and
effective. Theessence ofthisparagraph, however, isfortheCommittee toensure thatanyagreement
relating toexport credits makes appropriate provisions fordifferential treatment infavour of
LDCs/NFIDCs.
Tothatend,mydelegation would liketostress thefollowing:
First: referring toArticle 10.2; intheviewofmydelegation, itcanonlybeinterpreted in
thesense thatanyagreement onexport credits willhavetocome toWTO forfinalapproval, soas
toensure itscompatibility withtheAgreement andtomake surethatourinterests interms ofgranting
differential treatment arewelltaken careofasclearly stipulated byparagraph 4oftheAgreement.
Second: atsome point intime, weshould alsoenvisage aparallel track ofnegotiations on
export credits intheWTO, while weareaware thatthisimportant question isbeing considered inother
relevant fora.
Alastpoint Iwould liketoinvoke atthisjuncture iswithregard tofoodaid.Inaddition to
monitoring theongoing levels offoodaid,which webelieve canbeadequately done through the
notification procedure, theCommittee hasalsothetask-andinaccordance withparagraph 3(i)-to
review thesufficiency oftheleveloffoodaidestablished periodically bytheCommittee onFood Aid
under theFood AidConvention 1986 withaviewtoensuring thatthose levels aresupportive anddo
notruncounter totheobjectives ofthedecision, namely, itisincumbent uponthisCommittee tomake
surethatanydecision tobetaken within thepurview oftheFood AidConvention should notinfringe
upon theletter andspirit ofthedecision.
Before concluding, having shared withtheChairman andtheCommittee these reflections and
preliminary ideas, Iwould assume thattheywillnecessitate further consideration andinformals on
thepartoftheCommittee. Itmayalsobeadvisable tohaveanother lookattheissueattheSeptember
meeting inorder tomake surethatthemonitoring inNovember 1995 beconducted inanorderly and
substantive manner.