SOLID MAF COMMITMENT AT THE "BATTLE OF SEATTLE"
| Dubbed the "Battle of Seattle", the collapsed World Trade Organisation ministerial talks earlier this month proved to be just that. |
While violent anti-trade protests around Seattle made world headlines, the scenes around
the negotiating table were also confrontational at times, and exhausted negotiators ran
out of time to reach agreement across a range of key topic areas, including agriculture.
The collapse has disappointed the interna-tional policy team at MAF. New Zealand wanted
to see a broad-based negotiating agenda agreed at Seattle to allow a range of trade-offs
so that real progress could be made on further agricultural trade.
Although further agricultural negotiations are mandated to continue, progress on
liberalisation is expected to be a lot slower in the absence of a formal and wider
multilateral round.
New Zealand's negotiator in Seattle, the former Trade Minister Lockwood Smith, was supported by comprehensive behind-the-scenes work by staff within MAF and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
"MAF was an integral part of the team in Seattle," says Alan Kerr, the Ministry's Director of International Policy. The Ministry was closely involved in the development of a negotiating mandate for the agricultural talks. "The mandate would have established the scope of the negotiations,"
Now it is up to World Trade Organisation director-general Mike Moore, with support from member counties, to try and find a way to get the WTO Round launched and the negotiations back on track.
"A freer trading environment for our primary producers would have so many benefits
for the New Zealand economy. Better trading conditions mean better prices and
opportunities for our farmers, processors and exporters, and that means more jobs."
And while the issue of free trade remains a thorny one, MAF's Director General Bruce Ross
says this country has already been well served by the World Trade Organisation.
The WTO has disputes settling powers and two recent dispute rulings have gone in New Zealand's favour, saving the country tens of millions of dollars, according to Professor Ross.
He cites a recent WTO rejection of a Canadian dairy export subsidy scheme which was a major boost for rural New Zealand. "The positive result of this case complements our goal of obtaining the complete elimination of all agricultural export subsidies in this new round," he says.
"The granting of access for New Zealand spreadable butter to Europe is another example of the WTO flexing its muscle in an effective manner for this country," Professor Ross says.
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