Austin Deasy
Question:4 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food whether GATT negotiations on agricultural issues will be conducted on behalf of Ireland by the EC or if Ireland will negotiate on its own behalf.
Written Answers. - GATT Negotiations.
Jim Kemmy
Question:59 Mr. Kemmy asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he can reassure Irish agricultural producers that any additional concessions being sought in the GATT negotiations will not be to their disadvantage; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 and 59 together.
While progress on the GATT negotiations has been slow in recent months, following the conclusions of the G7 meeting in Munich yesterday there is renewed optimism that a GATT agreement can be concluded by the end of the year.
It will be recalled that the Director-General of the GATT, Mr. Dunkel, presented proposals to conclude the negotiations last December. The proposals on agriculture are unbalanced and do not represent an acceptable basis for a final solution. These views are fully supported by all of my colleagues in the Council and the Commission, which negotiates on behalf of the Community, has been mandated to negotiate improvements to the text. The Commission has held discussions with the other parties concerned particularly the US, but while no breakthrough has yet been achieved, there have been signals from the US side that they are now prepared to adopt a more realistic approach to the negotiations and discussions are continuing.
The recent Common Agricultural Policy reform agreement, although undertaken for internal market management reasons, represents a significant contribution to the Round. It is now up to other Contracting Parties to take the next step and to show the necessary flexibility to enable these long-running discussions to be concluded. I would stress that the Common Agricultural Policy agreement was achieved with great difficulty, involving sacrifices on the part of all member states. The Community, as I am, is determined to ensure that these reforms are not undermined by an eventual GATT agreement and that the compensatory payments, which are an integral part of the package, are fully protected.
My priorities in the negotiations are to ensure that whatever commitments are entered into will not prevent the Community from continuing to operate support measures to the benefit of the Irish agri-food sector and the wider economy and I will be pursuing these objectives with the utmost vigour in the Council. I would add that the Council mandate on agriculture, negotiated in November 1990, would enable these objectives to be met. The Council will of course have to approve the final package negotiated by the Commission.