I propose to take Questions Nos. 9, 55 and 65 together.
The World Trade Organisation held a ministerial conference in Seattle from 30 November to 3 December 1999 with the aim of defining the scope of the new round of trade negotiations. The conference was adjourned without reaching agreement and without a date being set for its resumption. However, under the terms of the Uruguay Round agreement on agriculture, concluded in 1994 under the auspices of GATT, the WTO's predecessor, WTO members are committed to resuming negotiations for the continuation of the trade liberalisation process in agriculture this year.
The agreement on agriculture recognised the long-term objective of progressive reductions in support and protection resulting in fundamental reform as an ongoing process. The agreement also recognised that negotiations on that objec tive would have to take into account the experience and effects of implementing commitments agreed in 1994, non-trade concerns, special and differential treatment of developing countries and the objective to create a fair and market oriented agricultural trading system.
Ireland will be participating in WTO negotiations on agriculture as a member of the European Union. The EU has been preparing its position for those negotiations on agriculture for some time and I have been actively involved in that process. The EU Council of Agriculture Ministers on 27 September 1999 adopted its position for the negotiations which declared, among other things, that the EU's policy in the negotiations would be based on the full Agenda 2000 package decided by the Heads of Government at the European Council in Berlin in March 1999. I will be working to ensure that the position adopted by Council, based on the Agenda 2000 outcome, is upheld.
It is virtually impossible at this stage to predict with any reliability the outcome of the negotiations or the implications for the agri-food sector and, indeed, any attempt to do so publicly would prejudice our negotiating position.
One of my objectives in the negotiations will be to ensure that there will be sufficient access to third country markets to provide adequate and remunerative outlets for Irish meat products. As recommended in the Report of the Beef Task Force, it is essential that the beef industry exploits fully the market opportunities that exist within the European Union and my Department and an Bord Bia will avail of every opportunity to promote that approach.