Vol. 416 No. 7
14 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if it is proposed to take any action at EC level to support the Community position in the GATT round to the effect that payments proposed under the Common Agricultural Policy reform to compensate farmers for price reduction would not be deemed to be subject to the discipline under GATT, in view of the critical importance of this matter for the Irish economy.
The treatment of the compensatory payments proposed under the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in the GATT and indeed other direct payments is a matter of the utmost importance for Ireland. My position, which I have forcefully expressed at every available opportunity and most recently at the Council this week, is that these payments must be in the "green box" of policies which will not be subject to discipline in the GATT. It is essential that Community producers and economies can be compensated for income losses which may result from price reductions under Common Agricultural Policy reform and the outcome of the GATT. This is a major point for Ireland.
Under the Draft final Act put forward by the Director General of the GATT, these payments would fall into the category of policies to be disciplined. This is a matter of very great concern to me and to many of my colleagues in the Council and the Commission has been made aware of my position as already expressed. The Council's view on the paper is that it calls into question the foundation of the Community's agricultural policy and that it has to be modified. The Commission has been mandated to negotiate necessary improvements to the text.
The treatment of the Common Agricultural Policy reform compensatory and other payments is one of the major deficiencies to be corrected. The Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. MacSharry fully shares my position on this issue and is on record as saying that there will be no GATT agreement unless this matter is resolved.
When the Community's offer was drawn up in November 1990, Ireland secured clear commitments from the Council and Commission on the need for complementary measures aimed at the most vulnerable producers and economies. The proposed compensatory payments are an integral element of this undertaking. The House can be assured that I intend to see to it that this commitment is honoured.
