ID :
92403
Mon, 11/30/2009 - 22:50
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/92403
The shortlink copeid
Japan to continue shielding farm products from sharp tariff cuts+
GENEVA, Nov. 30 Kyodo -
Japan is seeking ''flexibility'' during World Trade Organization negotiations
on the number of key agricultural products that can be exempted from sharp
tariff cuts, the Japanese farm minister said Monday.
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Hirotaka Akamatsu told reporters
after holding talks with WTO Director General Pascal Lamy that they had
discussed sensitive products on which rich economies could impose high tariffs
even after the liberalization of trade to prevent an influx of products from
the developing world.
Lamy proposed last year that rich members of the organization be allowed to
designate 4 percent of their total farm products as sensitive products in an
attempt to secure a breakthrough in the stalled Doha Round of global trade
liberalization talks.
Japan, which is widely seen as attempting to protect its domestic farmers from
cheap imports, has said that the WTO must be flexible in determining the number
of sensitive products, proposing a ratio of at least 8 percent.
Lamy told Akamatsu that he will clarify by March the issues that must be
addressed to conclude the eight-year-old Doha negotiations within next year,
according to Japanese officials.
The meeting came as trade representatives from the 153 member economies of the
WTO gathered in Geneva, Switzerland, for three days of ministerial talks
staring the same day.
Akamatsu also met ministers from the Group of 10 net food-importers on the
sidelines of the talks, confirming with them that the WTO should carefully
consider how to cut farm tariffs.
From Japan, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Masayuki Naoshima will also
attend the ministerial talks.
''I will stress the need to successfully conclude it (the Doha Round) next
year,'' Naoshima told reporters before his departure from Tokyo. ''It is
important to conclude the negotiations by overcoming the difficulties.''
The minister also said he is scheduled to hold talks with Indian Commerce and
Industry Minister Anand Sharma on the sidelines of the WTO gathering.
India is among the key players in the Doha Round along with other emerging
economies such as China and Brazil and some advanced economies, including the
United States and the European Union.
The Doha Round, launched in the Qatari capital in 2001 with a focus on
dismantling obstacles to trade for poor nations and originally scheduled to be
concluded in 2005, has seen no major progress since a ministerial meeting
collapsed in July last year, given conflicts between developed and developing
members over how they can cut tariffs and export subsidies.
The latest meeting in Geneva, however, is mainly aimed at reviewing the status
of the round and international trade, with many trade officials saying the
ministers will not engage based on any specific proposals to break the deadlock
and instead will only make speeches and reconfirm their earlier agreement to
seek a conclusion in 2010.
==Kyodo
2009-11-30 23:44:21
Japan is seeking ''flexibility'' during World Trade Organization negotiations
on the number of key agricultural products that can be exempted from sharp
tariff cuts, the Japanese farm minister said Monday.
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Hirotaka Akamatsu told reporters
after holding talks with WTO Director General Pascal Lamy that they had
discussed sensitive products on which rich economies could impose high tariffs
even after the liberalization of trade to prevent an influx of products from
the developing world.
Lamy proposed last year that rich members of the organization be allowed to
designate 4 percent of their total farm products as sensitive products in an
attempt to secure a breakthrough in the stalled Doha Round of global trade
liberalization talks.
Japan, which is widely seen as attempting to protect its domestic farmers from
cheap imports, has said that the WTO must be flexible in determining the number
of sensitive products, proposing a ratio of at least 8 percent.
Lamy told Akamatsu that he will clarify by March the issues that must be
addressed to conclude the eight-year-old Doha negotiations within next year,
according to Japanese officials.
The meeting came as trade representatives from the 153 member economies of the
WTO gathered in Geneva, Switzerland, for three days of ministerial talks
staring the same day.
Akamatsu also met ministers from the Group of 10 net food-importers on the
sidelines of the talks, confirming with them that the WTO should carefully
consider how to cut farm tariffs.
From Japan, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Masayuki Naoshima will also
attend the ministerial talks.
''I will stress the need to successfully conclude it (the Doha Round) next
year,'' Naoshima told reporters before his departure from Tokyo. ''It is
important to conclude the negotiations by overcoming the difficulties.''
The minister also said he is scheduled to hold talks with Indian Commerce and
Industry Minister Anand Sharma on the sidelines of the WTO gathering.
India is among the key players in the Doha Round along with other emerging
economies such as China and Brazil and some advanced economies, including the
United States and the European Union.
The Doha Round, launched in the Qatari capital in 2001 with a focus on
dismantling obstacles to trade for poor nations and originally scheduled to be
concluded in 2005, has seen no major progress since a ministerial meeting
collapsed in July last year, given conflicts between developed and developing
members over how they can cut tariffs and export subsidies.
The latest meeting in Geneva, however, is mainly aimed at reviewing the status
of the round and international trade, with many trade officials saying the
ministers will not engage based on any specific proposals to break the deadlock
and instead will only make speeches and reconfirm their earlier agreement to
seek a conclusion in 2010.
==Kyodo
2009-11-30 23:44:21
