Vol. 545 No. 3
42 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development if he will report on the World Trade Organisation talks which he attended in Doha recently; the content and outcome of bilateral meetings he held during the talks; the achievements he envisages from the new round of talks on further trade liberalisation due to commence in January 2002; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30143/01]
The ministerial declaration agreed at the WTO ministerial conference, while not prejudging the outcome, commits WTO members to negotiations in relation to agriculture aimed at substantial improvements in market access, reductions of, with a view to phasing out, all forms of export subsidies and substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support. It also provides that special and differential treatment for developing countries shall be an integral part of all elements of the negotiations and that non-trade concerns will be taken into account.
The draft declaration originally proposed referred to "reductions of, with a view to phasing out, all forms of export subsidies". This phraseology would have predetermined the outcome of the negotiations and was unacceptable to me for that reason. Due to the insistence of two EU member states in particular, France and Ireland, and against strong opposition from other WTO Members, the phrase "while not prejudging the outcome of the negotiations" was inserted in the final text. I am satisfied that the terms of the ministerial declaration are in accordance with the EU's negotiating mandate on agriculture which was agreed by the Council of Ministers. This represents a most successful outcome to the Doha conference for the EU and for Ireland.
