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EU AG REFORM "CRUCIAL" TO WTO NEGOTIATIONS, USTR SAYS

PARIS - Reform of the European Union's massive agricultural domestic subsidies program is crucial for making progress possible in World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations before a September WTO meeting in Mexico, said US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick  at a recent press conference in Paris during an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) meeting. Zoellick said that he and other ministers sought to narrow their focus on a few WTO issues for now as a way of improving the chances for success at the September meeting in Cancun. "At this point in the negotiation," the USTR said, "what is important, however, is to move forward what can be moved forward" in the WTO round, also known as the the Doha Development Agenda. Supporting EU reform of its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) agriculture subsidies "is vitally important" right now, he added. Once the EU achieves such reform, he indicated, the US could press other goals in opening agricultural trade, namely eliminating export subsidies and cutting tariffs. The USTR said he and EU representatives also worked toward agreement on elements of WTO negotiations for reducing tariffs on non-agricultural goods. The US proposal would combine a formula for harmonizing tariffs at a lower level with elimination of tariffs in certain sectors and elimination of all tariffs below a certain level, plus some special and differential treatment for developing countries. He said also that he perceived no fallout in trade negotiations from the US-French disagreement over the Iraq war.

INCREASE IN SUGAR IMPORTS URGED

GUATEMALA CITY - Reuters reports that Central American nations are  pressing  the US to allow in more of their sugar exports under its quota system as negotiators sit down for the latest round of negotiations over a planned free trade agreement. Representatives from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica are asking US  negotiators to allow in up to 300,000 metric tons of their raw sugar, said Salomon Cohen, chief Guatemalan government negotiator for the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the US, due to be signed in December. The five countries, of which Guatemala is by far the largest sugar producer, were allowed to export a total of 126,365 metric tons in varying amounts under the quota system for the 2002/2003 harvest. Guatemala alone produced 1.85 million metric tons during the 2002/2003 harvest. Critics say the quota system, which protects US sugar growers from competition from developing countries where labor costs are lower, goes against the spirit of free trade. Mexico, a major sugar producer, signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the US and Canada in 1994, stripping tariffs from thousands of products. But it is squabbling over sweetener imports and exports with the US and has been assigned an annual sugar export quota under 150,000 metric tons. Guatemala exported mainly to South Korea and Russia during the 2002-2003 harvest but wants to sell more to the nearby United States, especially as increased production in the Far East raises fears those customers could start buying more from neighbors. Enrique Lacs, main CAFTA negotiator for Guatemala's business sector, said it would be hard to convince the United States to remove barriers on sugar, as most Central American countries say they could rapidly boost production by expanding growing areas if new markets existed. But he said CAFTA negotiations needed to involve give and take from both sides. "If the United States doesn't want this it will affect the balance of the negotiations," he said.
 
EU OPENS MARKET FOR CZECH GRAIN EXPORTS

BRUSSELS - The European Union's grain management committee has voted to open zero duty import quotas for wheat and maize from the Czech Republic under a mutual farm trade liberalization deal. The duty free quotas will go into force on June 1, comprising 200,000 metric tons of soft wheat and 20,000 metric tons of maize, and will run to the end of the year. The Czech Republic, like other EU applicants, has agreed to bilateral farm liberalization deals - known in EU jargon as "double profit" accords - designed to prepare them for joining the bloc in 2004. As with the other grain import quotas under double profit agreements, traders will submit their bids to Brussels on the second Monday of each month.

CANADA WHEAT DUMPED ON US MARKET, COMMERCE SAYS

WASHINGTON, DC - US imports of certain varieties of wheat from Canada were dumped on the US market, according to the Commerce Department. In a recent affirmative preliminary determination, the DOC said that the dumping margins for imports of all varieties of Hard Red Spring wheat were 6.12 percent and all varieties of Durum wheat were 8.15%. In March, the Department announced its affirmative preliminary
determinations in the parallel subsidy investigations. It calculated net subsidy rates of 3.94%. Also in March, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said that it would seek a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute-settlement panel to challenge what it views as export subsidies from the monopoly Canadian Wheat Board. Imposition of antidumping duties requires final affirmative determination both from the Commerce Department that dumping occurred and from the US International Trade Commission (USITC) that the imports injured or threatened US industry. Commerce is scheduled to make its final determinations in both the antidumping and subsidy investigations by July 15. USITC rulings related to these cases are expected by August 29. Between July 2001 and June 2002 combined US imports of Hard Red Spring and Durum wheat varieties from Canada amounted to $290.1 million.

WILD SHRIMP EXPORT LIST UNCHANGED

WASHINGTON, DC - The State Department has left unchanged its list of countries that can export wild shrimp to the US market because their harvest practices pose no danger to endangered sea turtles. The Department said it had certified 39 countries plus Hong Kong for shrimp exports. Among the potential exporters not certified are Bangladesh, Haiti, Honduras, India and Venezuela although any shrimp raised by aquaculture from those countries would still be eligible for export to the US.  Under a provision of a 1990 US law the State Department must make such certification by May 1 each year. This year it determined that 15 of the countries certified require their shrimpers to use
turtle-excluder devices in harvesting shrimp, the same requirement imposed on US shrimpers. In the other certified countries shrimpers either employ fishing methods not harmful to turtles or harvest only in cold waters where turtles are unlikely at risk.

PRE-APPROVAL PLANNED FOR FISH IMPORTS

WASHINGTON, DC - The US Department of Commerce has announced that it will  soon require pre-approval for shipments to the US above a certain level of the endangered Chilean sea bass, also called the toothfish. In a recent press release, the Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said new regulations would become effective May 31 requiring pre-approval on imports greater than 2,000 kilograms of fresh or frozen toothfish. The multilateral conservation group that manages fish stocks in the seas off Antarctica began in 2000 to set annual catch limits on toothfish and require documents from fishing vessels to track the catches. By issuing the new regulations NOAA is implementing agreed changes in the multilateral catch document scheme. NOAA said the regulations will also ban imports from two zones just outside the protected area. "This ban should curb a significant amount of poaching from the commission's management area by fishermen who claim to have harvested from unregulated Areas 51 and 57, where scientific findings suggest Chilean sea bass does not live in harvestable quantities," the press release said. NOAA cited recent actions taken by Australia and Seychelles against toothfish poachers.

US, COLOMBIA SIGN TRADE PROMOTION AGREEMENT

WASHINGTON, DC - The US and and Colombia have signed an agreement to enhance the agricultural trade relationship between the two countries. A Memorandum of Understanding establishing a Consultative Committee on Agriculture was signed recently by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Colombia's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. According to a statement from the USDA, "Colombia is our largest [agricultural] export market in South America and this agreement will enhance bilateral trade to benefit both our countries and set the stage for improved communication and coordination in a number of areas, including food safety, research, and sanitary and phytosanitary issues." The agency added that besides strengthening US-Colombian agriculture ties, the agreement will enhance cooperation between the two nations' universities, research centers, and other institutions. The US is Colombia's largest overall trading partner, with more than 45% of all Colombian exports entering the US duty-free under the US' Most Favored Nation (MFN) tariff schedule. A similar agreement was signed with Uruguay in April.

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