WTO summit adopts new declaration

The WTO ministerial conference ended with the adoption of a series of decisions including that on the controversial issue of food security.

by Kanaga Raja

The ninth session of the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) came to a close on December 7, after adopting a Ministerial Declaration, the entire Bali package of ten texts, and five other Ministerial decisions.

The conference, which began on December 3 and was scheduled to end on December 6, spilled over into 7 December, when a very small group of countries, citing some concerns, had refused to join the consensus on the draft Bali package at an earlier informal Heads of Delegation (HOD) meeting.

The proposed Bali package was presented to Members at an informal HOD meeting at around 8.00 pm on December 6.

Another informal HOD meeting was held at around 1.00 am the next day. However, at this informal meeting, according to trade diplomats, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Bolivia said that they could not go along with the texts.

Trade diplomats said that two issues were raised, one being a point of procedure (when Cuba was denied the floor at an earlier HOD meeting) and the other being the issue of transit under trade facilitation when the text relating to transparency and non-discrimination (the US trade embargo against Cuba) had been deleted.

(According to a trade diplomat, at the informal HOD meeting at around 8.00 pm on December 6 when the draft Bali package was presented to members, Cuba, which had wanted to speak, was denied the floor. Cuba then said that it would not join the consensus in relation to the texts, according to the trade diplomat.) An informal HOD meeting that was later scheduled for 4.30 am on December 7 was postponed to 10.00 am the same day, and this was followed quickly by the closing plenary session.

At the closing plenary, Conference Chair Indonesian Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan paid tribute to the late Nelson Mandela, and South African Trade Minister Rob Davies was also given the floor.

The Chair then proceeded to take action on a revised draft Ministerial Declaration (which was circulated on 7 December morning), the five draft Ministerial decisions, and the Bali package of ten texts.

All were duly adopted to a standing ovation.

(The revised draft Bali Ministerial Declaration had added the following paragraph under the trade facilitation sub-heading: “In this regard, we reaffirm that the non-discrimination principle of Article V of GATT 1994 remains valid.”

(According to trade officials, this paragraph was included to address the concerns voiced by Cuba.)

The five draft Ministerial Decisions were on TRIPS non-violation and situation complaints, work program on electronic commerce, work programme on small economies, aid for trade, and trade and transfer of technology.

The ten texts comprising the Bali package are the agreement on trade facilitation; general services; public stockholding for food security purposes; understanding on tariff rate quota administration; export competition; cotton; preferential rules of origin for least-developed countries; operationalisation of the waiver concerning preferential treatment to services and service suppliers of least-developed countries; duty-free and quota-free market access for least-developed countries; and monitoring mechanism on special and differential treatment.

On the critical issue of food security, paragraph one of the draft Ministerial Decision on public stockholding for food security purposes states: “1. Members agree to put in place an interim mechanism as set out below, and to negotiate on an agreement for a permanent solution, for the issue of public stockholding for food security purposes for adoption by the 11th Ministerial Conference.”

A footnote to this paragraph states that the permanent solution will be applicable to all developing Members.

The second paragraph of the draft decision on food security states: “In the interim, until a permanent solution is found, and provided that the conditions set out below are met, Members shall refrain from challenging through the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism, compliance of a developing Member with its obligations under Articles 6.3 and 7.2 (b) of the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) in relation to support provided for traditional staple food crops in pursuance of public stockholding programmes for food security purposes existing as of the date of this Decision, that are consistent with the criteria of paragraph 3, footnote 5, and footnote 5 and 6 of Annex 2 to the AoA when the developing Member complies with the terms of this Decision.”

A footnote to this paragraph states: “This Decision does not preclude developing Members from introducing programmes of public stockholding for food security purposes in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Agreement on Agriculture.”

On notification and transparency, the draft Ministerial Decision on food security states:

“A developing Member benefiting from this Decision must:

“a. have notified the Committee on Agriculture that it is exceeding or is at risk of exceeding either or both of its Aggregate Measurement of Support (AMS) limits (the Member's Bound Total AMS or the de minimis level) as result of its programmes mentioned above;

“b. have fulfilled and continue to fulfil its domestic support notification requirements under the AoA in accordance with document G/AG/2 of 30 June 1995, as specified in the Annex;

“c. have provided, and continue to provide on an annual basis, additional information by completing the template contained in the Annex, for each public stock-holding program that it maintains for food security purposes; and

“d. provide any additional relevant statistical information described in the Statistical Appendix to the Annex as soon as possible after it becomes available, as well as any information updating or correcting any information earlier submitted.”

With respect to anti-circumvention/safeguards, the draft decision states:

“4. Any developing Member seeking coverage of programs under paragraph 2 shall ensure that stocks procured under such programmes do not distort trade or adversely affect the food security of other Members.

“5. This Decision shall not be used in a manner that results in an increase of the support subject to the Member's Bound Total AMS or the de minimis limits provided under programs other than those notified under paragraph 3. a.”

As to the work program, the draft decision states:

“8. Members agree to establish a work program to be undertaken in the Committee on Agriculture to pursue this issue with the aim of making recommendations for a permanent solution. This work program shall take into account Members’ existing and future submissions.

“9. In the context of the broader post-Bali agenda, Members commit to the work program mentioned in the previous paragraph with the aim of concluding it no later than the 11th Ministerial Conference.

“10. The General Council shall report to the 10th Ministerial Conference for an evaluation of the operation of this Decision, particularly on the progress made on the work program.”