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> More on the modalities phase
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The
commitments, along with revised rules, will form the final deal of the
agriculture negotiations and will give the outcome real commercial impact.
Members are only at the start of what could be a lengthy technical process.
At this stage, the aim is to identify questions on what data will be needed
and when. Members can then consider how to respond to these questions and to
produce any others they might have missed, a task they describe as their
homework for the summer break — August and early September.
They will then return in the autumn to draw up “templates”. These will be
electronic forms or tables for spelling out the commitments, together with
accompanying tables containing the data used to calculate the commitments.
At this stage, the actual commitments will be left blank, but some of the
data to be used to calculate the commitments will be produced in advance.
At least some of the data and the templates will be needed when members
agree on “modalities” — the blueprint document containing formulas for
lowering import barriers and subsidies, along with flexibilities allowing
countries to deviate from the formulas, and a range of related disciplines.
The final commitments will be calculated from the data by applying the
“modalities”, currently in their fifth draft (document
TN/AG/W/4/Rev.4 of 6 December 2008). See “at a glance” on the right.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Walker said he plans to schedule meetings of various
types intensively from September. He said he would start consultations on
still unsettled issues in the negotiations with various countries and groups
of countries from 7 September. This would be immediately after he returns
from New Delhi, where the Indian hosts have invited him to attend a meeting
of a group of ministers in the previous week. From the week of 21 September
he said he would also continue meetings on the technical work on data and
templates.
Use these links to download the audio files or to listen to what he said in
the 23 July meeting:
This meeting
This was an informal agriculture negotiations meeting of the full membership, officially an “Informal Open-Ended Special Session” of the Agriculture Committee.
The latest texts and a number of related issues can be found with
explanations here,
including what “the text” is and says, and a “jargon buster”.
The current phase of the negotiations is about “modalities”, explained
here.
Explanation
Explanations of the issues are available for the
chairperson’s
2008 drafts and reports.
Schedules: In general, a WTO member’s list of commitments on market access
(bound tariff rates, access to services markets). Goods schedules can
include commitments on agricultural subsidies and domestic support. Services
commitments include bindings on national treatment.
Templates: Here, blank forms prepared for the schedules of commitments, and
for data in used to calculate the commitments. Some of the data will be in
“supporting tables” attached to the schedules of commitments.
Modalities: A way to proceed. In WTO negotiations, modalities set broad
outlines — such as formulas or approaches for tariff reductions — for final
commitments. In agriculture, the modalities include formulas and approaches
for cutting domestic support and export subsidies as well.
“Room E”: meetings of a representative group of about 30—37 delegations as
part of a process that is controlled by the full membership. These are
explained
here (see “where and who?” box on the right).
The present room E delegations are (36 in 2009): Argentina (Cairns Group,
G-20), Australia (Cairns Group coordinator), Brazil (G-20 coordinator, also
Cairns), Burkina Faso (Cotton-4 coordinator, also African Group,
least-developed, Africa-Caribbean-Pacific), Canada (Cairns), China (G-33,
G-20, recent new member), Colombia (Cairns, tropical products group),
Costa
Rica (tropical products coordinator, also Cairns), Cuba (G-33, G-20, small
and vulnerable economies, ACP), Dominican Rep (small-vulnerable economies
coordinator, also G-33), Ecuador (tropical products, recent new member),
Egypt (African Group ag coordinator, also G-20), EU, India (G-33, G-20),
Indonesia (G-33 coordinator, also G-20, Cairns), Jamaica (ACP coordinator,
also G-33, small-vulnerable), Japan (G-10 coordinator), Kenya (G-33,
African, ACP), Rep. Korea (G-33, G-10), Malaysia (Cairns), Mauritius
(G-33, ACP, African), Mexico (G-20), NewZealand (Cairns),
Norway (G-10), Pakistan
(Cairns, G-20, G-33), Paraguay (Cairns, G-20, tropical products,
small-vulnerable), Philippines (G-33, G-20, Cairns), South Africa (Cairns
Group, African Group, ACP), Switzerland (G-10), Chinese Taipei (recent new
members coordinator, also G—10), Tanzania (least-developed countries
coordinator, also African Group, ACP) Thailand (Cairns, G-20), Turkey
(G-33), Uruguay (Cairns, G-20), US, Venezuela (G-33, G-20).
The story so far
2000:
Agriculture negotiations launched (March).
See backgrounder
2001: Doha Development Agenda launched. Agriculture included (November)
2004: “Framework” agreed (August)
2005: Further agreements in Hong Kong Ministerial Conference (December)
2006: Draft modalities (June)
2007: Revised draft modalities (July)
2007-2008: Intensive negotiations with working documents (September-January)
2008: Revised draft modalities (February, May and July)
2008: The July 2008 package full coverage and the chair’s report
AT A GLANCE
This technical
work would take the negotiators through the following
sequence, leading to “schedules” (lists or tables) of
commitments:
1. Members identify data needs and design blank forms
(“templates”) for data and for commitments (now and
through the autumn)
2. “Modalities” (formulas, flexibilities, disciplines)
agreed, perhaps with agreed blank forms or tables, and
with some data attached
3. “Scheduling” — forms/tables filled in. Some are
draft commitments, based on “modalities” formulas. Some
are supporting tables of data
4. Members verify each others’ draft commitments,
using the supporting data.
5. Commitments are agreed as part of the Doha Round
single undertaking
This work is technical, but some political questions also
still have to be sorted out before “modalities” can be
agreed.
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