WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/AG/NG/W/81
30 November 2000
(00-5171)
Committee on Agriculture
Special SessionOriginal:  English
FOURTH SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
15-17 NOVEMBER 2000
Statement by Poland
Non-Trade Concerns   (G/AG/NG/W/36)
The various subjects related to the non-trade concerns and multifunctional role of agriculture
are attracting recently increased attention and are seriously discussed not only among those involveddirectly in agriculture.
Among the Members of the WTO, discussion was initiated during the AIE process in which
we also have expressed our point of view on the numerous occasions.  It becomes evident that,
although all Members consider agriculture as a sector which deserves special attention, they havedifferent approaches to the NTC issue.  Points raised during this very useful discussion were compiled
recently by the Secretariat in document G/AG/NG/S/17.
Therefore it is rather obvious, that there is still need to understand better this issue and further
serious discussion, based on concrete, well defined submissions is indispensable in order to achieve
progress in the negotiating process.
For this reason the Polish delegation welcomes, with great satisfaction, discussion papers
(G/AG/NG/W/36) presented by Switzerland, Euro pean Commission, Japan, Korea, Mauritius and
Norway.
These papers are based on similar perceptions of issues related to the multifunctional role of
agriculture and complement one another, therefore we present our comments in one statement.
At the outset we would like to underline that Poland fully supports the main principle
contained in the Swiss paper, which is in our view the need to preserve special treatment of
agriculture in the framework of the WTO. This is probably the most important point for the futuredevelopment of these negotiations.  It is worthwhile to stress that the issue of specificity of agriculture
is very often raised by the countries with significant imports of agricultural products.  Poland for
example has a large deficit in trade in food products.
The justification for special treatment of agriculture, only outlined in the Swiss paper, is
explored further in the follow-up papers.
The paper presented by the European Commission undertakes the issue of agriculture's
contribution to rural development.
In our view, description of direct linkage between agricultural activities and existence of rural
regions is very difficult to contest.G/AG/NG/W/81
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For Poland, where the livelihood of a large part of the population depends on farming, the
most important issue is to preserve agricultural production in the areas where the majority of workers
are employed in agriculture.  This is crucial for various reasons linked to the social development and
for the prevention against the degradation of living standards.  In our view, special attention should begiven to the regions with high unemployment also in the non-agricultural sectors.  The maintenance of
agricultural activities is also indispensable for the development of services and small industry.
Stability and predictability of conditions for agricultural production are essential factors in the efforts
to attract financial investments and the creation of alternative employment opportunities.
In our view, existence of different models of agriculture should be preserved in the further
reform process.  We therefore fully share the conclu sion of the EC paper, which calls for recognition
of the right to pursue specific rural development policies.
The next paper presented by Japan and Korea is devoted to the most basic function of
agriculture, which is the establishment and maintenance of food security.
We share the view that food is the most essential product for all countries.  Destabilization of
food supply or lack of predictability of prices can lead to social unrest with consequences difficult to
foresee.
For this reason, it is of the utmost importance to maintain the potential of agricultural
production in the different regions of the world and to create a diversified trade flow.
We also support the opinion that the combination of domestic production, imports and
utilization of public stockholdings is the best approach to the food security issue.
The second paper prepared by the EC describes environmental and cultural benefits, which
can be achieved through farming.
All activities linked to the production of food were always essential in determining the
development of rural areas and in the social and cultural aspects of human life.  In our view, decrease
of production can inflict the biggest threat to agricultural communities, which is unemployment.
Because of fewer alternatives and immobility of the workforce, rural communities are in a
disadvantage position to combat unemployment.
The separate problem is very often observed in the regions characterized by the unfavorable
conditions for farming where farmers exposed to market forces decide to abandon their farms.
On the other hand, intensification and industrialization of agricultural production, together
with transformation of urban lifestyle, can contribute to negative changes in the rural society and
environment caused by deforestation and water pollution.
The discussion we have had up to now clearly demonstrates that the issue of NTC has its
universal dimension. The next paper presented by Mauritius gives us very valuable assessment from
the point of view of developing countries.
The paper describes the impact of agriculture on different sectors of economy, in particular on
social and economical developments in the rural areas and justifies the right of the WTO Members toprevent degradation of farming.G/AG/NG/W/81
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We recognize that this is especially important for countries and regions which depend on
production of limited commodities.  The further reform process would be difficult to implement
without addressing these concerns.
In our view, the paper prepared by Norway o ffers a very important input for the summary of
discussions on the NTC.
We share the point of view elaborated by Norway, which is the need for flexibility in
domestic agricultural policy.
It is evident, that among Members of the WTO there is a great variety of social, structural and
geographical circumstances, which determine approach to agriculture, methods, and potential ofproduction.  In many countries those factors have a decisive impact on costs of production and are
essential for the outcome of competition among producers.  We also have to be aware that further
continuation of the reform process will bring, for some of the countries, greater responsibility and the
need to implement various policy adjustment mechanisms.
Therefore, special attention should be given to the concerns of those countries for which
further commitments will not only result in increase of production and exports.
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