G-20 Presents TRQ Proposal at WTO

G-20 members argue that trade could also be facilitated by new international rules on how countries manage tariff rates quotas, or TRQs - which are used by some countries to charge higher tariffs on goods being imported after an initial quota has been filled.

The new proposal effectively extracts existing language on doing so from the latest version of the draft Doha accord - dubbed simply ‘rev. 42 by Geneva negotiators, in reference to the document code given by the WTO to the text.

Among other things, the accord would set out new procedures in cases where tariff quotas were consistently under-filled, and set out new requirements for reporting on and monitoring members’ commitments in the WTO’s Committee on Agriculture.

Negotiators who had attended last Friday’s meeting said that some members from the G-10 group of countries with highly-protected farm sectors had expressed concerns about the proposal, while welcoming the move to re-invigorate discussion on Doha. The G-10 group includes Japan, Korea, Norway, and Switzerland, amongst others.

Export competition: new studies

A separate proposal from the G-20 called on the WTO secretariat to update information on export subsidies, export credits, state trading enterprises, and food aid - four areas addressed collectively under the Doha talks on ‘export competition’ in agriculture.

Previous studies on export subsidies should be updated, the group said, while new analysis should be conducted on food aid, state trading enterprises, and export credit guarantees.

However, negotiators told that the EU had opposed the move, fearing that the studies would be linked to a push for early progress on these issues under Doha. The 27-member bloc has repeatedly warned that it could only foresee ending export subsidies as part of the broader Doha package.

Negotiators now have just over one year to try and make progress before the next ministerial meeting of the WTO, scheduled to be held in Bali, Indonesia, in December 2013.