Canadian negotiators optimistic on Doha round

(Resource News International) — Canadian negotiators remain optimistic
regarding progress made at the World Trade Organization’s
latest session of the Doha round, even as they continue to
defend supply management boards and the Canadian Wheat Board’s
(CWB) marketing monopoly, according to Canada’s chief agricultural negotiator at the WTO talks.

Steve Verheul, director of the trade policy division of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, said he
remains optimistic regarding the amount of progress currently
being made among states.

“We are expecting a revised version of the chair’s text
sometime around the end of October and we should see that
there has been a considerable amount of progress made in
narrowing down the issues.”

Speaking from his office in Ottawa, he cautioned that “at the end of the day, though, there
are still going to be a handful of issues that require
political decisions and that part is still a little more up in
the air at this point.”

Canada’s continued defence of supply management boards
has been a contentious issue. Seen by some states as trade
impediments, supply management boards artificially control
both the supply and demand aspects of dairy and poultry
production.

As another session of the WTO’s Doha round
negotiations resumes, however, Verheul said Canadian trade
officials are pressing to have supply management products fall
under the sensitive products category, which would allow them
to continue operating.

“We’ve been taking a very hard line on issues related to
supply management and we have said and continue to say that we
won’t show any flexibility on issues that are important to
supply management,” Verheul said.

“We’ve taken a clear position that we’re not prepared to
take tariff cuts or tariff quota expansion on supply
management products.”

Verheul added he does not feel Canada’s unwillingness to
discuss changes to supply management hinders Canada’s
participation in the Doha talks.

“Almost every country has its own issue that is
particularly sensitive for them and it’s understood among
negotiators. We try to work on areas where we can make
progress and always run into some issues where we aren’t going
to see a lot of movement.”

Canada’s position on the issue of the CWB’s marketing
monopoly powers is also unchanged, Verheul said.

“We, and others such as Australia and New Zealand, have
argued that it is a domestic policy issue and should be left
to domestic decision-makers to make those decisions.”

As far as non-sensitive products are concerned, “we are
pressing for the most ambitious cuts possible and we’re
comfortable with the kind of range that appeared in the
chair’s text that came out in July,” Verheul said.

He said the recent session of Doha negotiations is the
result of a series of meetings among so-called G-4 trade
officials, which eventually led to a ministerial meeting in
Potsdam, Germany. The G-4 include the U.S., the European Union,
Brazil and India.

Although talks broke down at the ministerial
level, there was a consensus that the progress achieved
provided a good foundation to build upon in a multilateral
session in Geneva, Switzerland.

In the event that no trade agreement is reached in the
upcoming sessions, Verheul said he does not think that anyone
is considering the Doha Rounds will be declared dead. Rather,
officials will continue negotiating at less intense levels
until more favourable negotiating conditions exist, including
the possibility of a new US administration in 2008.

The WTO trade negotiation session known as the Doha round
began in 2001 and was named after the location in which it
began, Doha, Qatar. Despite the optimism surrounding the start
of the Doha round, the trade talks stalled on numerous
occasions due to an inability to agree on trade terms.

Agricultural tariffs and subsidies are consistently a source
of disagreement among participants.