. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/AG/NG/W/4
4 April 2000
(00-1361)
Committee on Agriculture
Special SessionOriginal:  English
FIRST SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
23-24 MARCH 2000
Statement by Hungary
At the outset I would like to sincerely thank Ambassador Farrell for having accepted to chair
the present Special Session of the Committee on Agricult ure.  I would like to assure you of our fullest
cooperation.  We hope that the consultations to be held in the near future will rapidly remove us from
the present impasse in the chairmanship issue and that reasonably before the June session we willhave this episode left behind us so as to be in a position to concentrate our full attention on the
negotiations themselves.
Hungary has attached great importance that the negotiations on agriculture commence
according to the deadline set out in the built-in mandate contained in the Agreement on Agriculture.
We are approaching these negotiations with an open mind and without preconceptions.  In the same
spirit we are ready to participate in good faith in the negotiations in all the areas envisaged in
Article 20 of the Agreement on Agriculture that is in market access, domestic support, export
competition and rule-making.  At the same time we have no illusions that the pace and the outcome of
the agricultural negotiations are heavily dependant on the scope of the overall negotiating agenda of
the WTO.  In this regard let me restate our clear preference to carrying on the agricultural negotiations
within the framework of a comprehensive round of mu ltilateral trade negotiations that in our view is
the only way to offer those trade-offs which are necessary for achieving meaningful progress in the
agricultural reform process.  We still hope that the efforts to broaden the scope of negotiations
currently underway will finally succeed thereby si gnificantly altering the context in which the
agricultural negotiations are carried out.
We strongly hope that during the negotiations all the concerns various Members have in the
field of agriculture will be taken fully into account as required by Article 20 of the Agreement on
Agriculture which is the basis for negotiations.  In this regard, as I did during the agricultural AIE
process as well as the preparations for the Seattle Ministerial Conference, I would like to stress that
after having gone through an unexpectedly difficult process of transition to a market economy ouragricultural sector currently faces huge problems (fragmentation of privatized land,
undercapitalization of farms) which we strongly hope will be adequately addressed during the new
negotiations.
As far as the negotiating process is concerned we expect the negotiations to be conducted in a
transparent and efficient manner allowing every in terested Member to actively participate in the
negotiating process.
In the coming months we expect to focus our work on the assessment of the experience we
have gained so far during the implementation period as well as the effects of the reduction
commitments on agricultural trade following the sequence of the subparagraphs of Article 20.G/AG/NG/W/4
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At the same time we would like to identify t hose issues where Members would greatly benefit
from contribution by the Secretariat in the form of high-quality analytical and background papers. At
this stage we would like to indicate our interest in the preparation of background papers in particular
on the scope offered by the existing Green Box categories for allowing Members to pursue legitimate
agricultural policy objectives and on the effects of inflation on the fulfilment of domestic supportcommitments.
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