Written Answers. - GATT Negotiations.
Austin Deasy
Question:
5
Mr. Deasy
asked the
Minister for Agriculture and Food
if he will guarantee that the compensatory measures contained in the Common Agricultural Policy reform package will be retained in full during the forthcoming GATT negotiations; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Jim O'Keeffe
Question:
60
Mr. J. O'Keeffe
asked the
Minister for Agriculture and Food
the current position in relation to the agricultural chapter in the GATT negotiations; and if he will outline Ireland's latest proposals on same.
Bernard J. Durkan
Question:
119
Mr. Durkan
asked the
Minister for Agriculture and Food
the impact the recently concluded Common Agricultural Policy review will have on the GATT negotiations; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 5, 60 and 119 together.
There has been little progress in recent months in relation to the agriculture, or indeed any, chapter of the GATT negotiations. As the House will recall, the Director-General of GATT, Mr. Dunkel, presented proposals for a final solution to all parties late last December. The Community position on the agriculture chapter, which I fully endorse, is that the proposals call into question the foundation of the Common Agricultural Policy, are not acceptable and have to be modified. The Commission has been mandated by the Council to negotiate necessary improvements to the text and has been conducting multilateral and bilateral negotiations with our trading partners. While there has been little progress so far other participants have been left in no doubt that the Community's interests will have to be taken into account if an agreement is to be concluded.
The recent Common Agricultural Policy reform agreement will greatly strengthen the Community's position in the negotiations. The Community has agreed a far-reaching reform of its agricultural policies and it is now up to other parties to make a response to this historic agreement. The reform, unlike the Dunkel proposals, will allow the Community to protect the legitimate interests of its producers while also meeting its obligations in the international trade forum. There is no specific deadline for the conclusion of the GATT negotiations but all parties are committed to achieving this goal and it is to be hoped that a satisfactory agreement can be reached soon.
Ireland's priorities in the negotiations have always been to ensure that whatever commitments are entered into will not prevent the Community from continuing to operate support measures to benefit the Irish agricultural and food sector and the wider economy. More specifically, I will be seeking to redress the fundamental imbalances of the Dunkel proposals. Those imbalances relate in particular to the lack of coherence between individual commitments, the inclusion of Common Agricultural Policy reform compensation, headage and structural payments in the category of supports to be disciplined, the tariffication methodology, the minimum access provisions, volume limitations on export subsidies, absence of rebalancing and the inadequate peace clause. I am pleased to report that I received specific assurances from Commissioner MacSharry that there will be adequate and durable funding to finance the compensatory measures, agreed under Common Agricultural Policy reform, and that the Community will continue to insist on their exemption from discipline under a future GATT agreement. These are very important points for me and for many of my colleagues in the Council.
I can assure the House that I will be pursuing Ireland's interests in the GATT negotiations with the same vigour with which I approached the Common Agricultural Policy reform talks.
