. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/AG/NG/W/131
21 February 2001
(01-0854)
Committee on Agriculture
Special SessionOriginal:  English
FIFTH SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
5-7 FEBRUARY 2001
Statement by Hungary
on behalf of Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic
Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Lithuania,
Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia
G/AG/NG/W/90 (Proposal by the EC)
First of all I would like to express the sincere appreciation of the 13 countries I am speaking
on behalf of, to the EC for having responded in such a positive way to the two proposals submitted byeconomies in transition in the areas of domestic support and market access.  Let me just recall that
with these proposals our countries wanted on the one hand, to draw the attention of other Members to
the extremely heavy burdens associated with the unprecedented transformation process from a
centrally planned to a market economy in a number of WTO-members.  On the other hand, our
countries wanted to put forward concrete ideas for ch anges in the current disciplines, as well as for
flexibilities during future tariff reductions with the aim of ensuring that the continuation of the
agricultural reform would not prevent economies in  transition from re-establishing the viability of
their agricultural sector which is, and I want to make this absolutely clear, one of the highest political
and economic priorities in the conditions of transition.  In this light it is of great importance to all our
countries that the EC in its proposal did recognize the unique challenges our countries are facing in
the agricultural sector and did agree with the n eed for taking them into account when the new
disciplines and commitments are going to be worked out.
As to the general thrust and the basic elements of the proposal, they largely correspond to our
own ideas. Let me just very quickly run through the proposal.
Firstly, let me say, that we agree that the starting point for further reductions in support and
protection should be the bound commitment levels.
In market access  we are ready to consider the Uruguay Round approach to tariff reductions,
with an amendment to the effect that economies in  transition would benefit from certain flexibilities
as a recognition of their high level of market opening and extreme vulnerability resulting from thetransformation process.  We too believe that the lack of adequate rules regarding tariff rate quota
administration was a major shortcoming of the Agreement.  Therefore current disciplines should be
clarified and strengthened in order to ensure that tariff rate quota administration does not become a
barrier to trade.  We, like the EC, would like to have the right to use the special safeguard clause in
the future since it plays an important role in reassuring farmers that the progressive reduction of tariffswould not leave them without effective protection against sudden surges in imports and drops in
import prices which otherwise could have devastating effects.  We also share the assessment of the
EC that the protection of geographical indications is a crucial element of market access for many
agricultural products, thus the issue is absolutely pertinent to the agricultural negotiations.
As to export competition , as many of us have already indicated, we too have a
comprehensive approach towards this issue, which m eans that the current negotiations should lead toG/AG/NG/W/131
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all forms of export subsidization, including officially supported export credits and guarantees, abuse
of food aid and certain practices of state trading enterprises be covered by the new disciplines and
being treated on an equal footing.
Regarding the domestic support,  like many others in this organization we believe that the
Green Box should be revised in order to ensure that in the future it can offer feasible options for every
Member to move away from trade-distorting support measures.  At the same time it has to be
recognized that there are circumstances where an agricultural policy for objective reasons has no
choice but to rely on support measures which are considered generally as more than minimally
distorting trade and which under normal conditions should be avoided.  It is sufficient to refer to the
needs of developing countries in respect of economic development or of economies in transition
regarding the radical transformation of their agriculture.  This was exactly the reason for this lattercategory of countries to submit a proposal on establishing a specific provision in the AoA which
would address their specific needs in the form of  temporarily exempting certain types of domestic
support from reduction commitment and increase the de minimis  threshold applicable to these
countries.  Concerning the de minimis  threshold we have no particular problem with the proposal to
reduce them for developed countries as long as this would not apply to economies in transition.
We have found the ideas on non-trade concerns  worthy of serious consideration.  This
applies in particular to measures ensuring the sustainable vitality of rural areas and food safety.  With
regard to the first area we hope that the EC would consider measures aimed at assisting rural
development to also be covered, since this is crucial to many, including our countries.  We share theposition of the EC that measures addressing non-trade concerns should be well targeted, transparent
and implemented in no more than minimally trade- distorting ways and should not become disguised
restrictions to trade.  We are looking forward to th e discussions on the instruments to be used to deal
with non-trade concerns.
Finally, we also believe that the peace clause should remain in force since it has played a
useful role in providing legal security for agricu ltural policy reform that was needed for Members to
comply with their reduction commitments on export subsidies and domestic support.
In concluding, on behalf of the 13 countries I am speaking, I would like to thank the EC for
taking a rather realistic approach in its proposal, which will certainly contribute to moving us forward
to the next phase of the negotiations in a balanced manner.
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