I
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4288
To establish the negotiating objectives of the United States with respect
to the WTO Agreement on Agriculture, to establish criteria for the
accession of state trading regimes to the WTO, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 21, 1998
Mr. EWING introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Ways and Means
A BILL
To establish the negotiating objectives of the United States
with respect to the WTO Agreement on Agriculture,
to establish criteria for the accession of state trading
regimes to the WTO, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Agriculture Export
Enhancement Act of 1998’’.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) AGREEMENT ON AGRICULTURE.—The term
‘‘Agreement on Agriculture’’ means the Agreement
described in section 101(d)(2) of the Uruguay
Round Agreements Act.
(2) AGREEMENT ON THE APPLICATION OF SAN-
ITARY; AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES.—The term
‘‘Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and
Phytosanitary Measures’’ means the Agreement de-
scribed in section 101(d)(3) of the Uruguay Round
Agreements Act.
(3) URUGUAY ROUND AGREEMENTS.—The term
‘‘Uruguay Round Agreements’’ has the meaning
given such term in section 2(7) of the Uruguay
Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3501(7).
(4) WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION.—The term
‘‘World Trade Organization’’ means the organization
established pursuant to the WTO Agreement.
(5) WTO 
AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘WTO
Agreement’’ means the Agreement Establishing The
World Trade Organization entered into on April 15,
1994.
(6) WTO AND
WTO
MEMBER.—The terms
‘‘WTO’’ and ‘‘WTO member’’ have the meanings
given those terms in section 2 of the Uruguay
Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3501).
SEC. 3. PRINCIPAL AGRICULTURAL TRADE NEGOTIATING
OBJECTIVES.
The principle agricultural trade negotiating objectives
of the United States with respect to the WTO Agreement
on Agriculture shall include the following:
(1) ELIMINATION
OF
TARIFFS
ON
AGRICUL-
TURAL PRODUCTS.—The United States shall nego-
tiate a specific date after which tariffs imposed on
agricultural products shall be eliminated by WTO
members and the United States shall negotiate the
immediate elimination or substantial reduction of
the tariffs imposed on the following products by cer-
tain WTO members:
(A) Tariffs imposed on meat products by
Japan.
(B) Tariffs imposed on meat products by
South Korea.
(C) Tariffs imposed on grains, livestock,
and meat products by the Philippines.
(D) Tariffs imposed on wheat by South Af-
rica.
(E) Tariffs imposed on milling wheat,
corn, and sorghum by Turkey.
(2) ELIMINATION
OF
EXPORT
AND
OTHER
TRADE-DISTORTING SUBSIDIES.—The United States
shall negotiate a specific date after which all export
and other trade-distorting subsidies shall be elimi-
nated by WTO members and the United States shall
negotiate the elimination of the following subsidies
provided by the certain WTO members:
(A) Export subsidies on wheat, wheat
flour, beef, and poultry provided by the Euro-
pean Union.
(B) Domestic subsidies on pork and feed
grains provided by the European Union.
(3) ELIMINATION OF THE UNFAIR OR TRADE-
DISTORTING ACTIVITIES OF STATE TRADING ENTER-
PRISES.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The United States
shall negotiate the elimination of the exclusive
right of state trading enterprises to import ag-
ricultural products in the case of members of
the WTO and shall negotiate the elimination of
the ability of state trading enterprises to use
their exclusive authority over the export of agri-
cultural products to distort trade and inter-
national prices.
(B) 
SPECIFIC
REFORMS.—The 
United
States shall negotiate the following specific re-
forms with respect to the activities of state
trading enterprises:
(i) Ensure that Australia adheres to
its commitment to end the export monop-
oly of the Australia Wheat Board no later
than January 1, 1999.
(ii) Ensure that Canada eliminates
the discretionary pricing practices of the
Canadian Wheat Board.
(4) ELIMINATION
OF
UNJUSTIFIED
SANITARY
AND PHYTOSANITARY RESTRICTIONS ON IMPORTS OF
UNITED
STATES
AGRICULTURAL
PRODUCTS.—The
United States shall negotiate the elimination of the
following sanitary and phytosanitary restrictions on
imports of United States agricultural products to
the extent that the restrictions are inconsistent with
the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary
and Phytosanitary Measures:
(A) Australia’s quarantine and health re-
strictions on imports of livestock and poultry.
(B) Australia’s prohibition on poultry im-
ports in the absence of WTO-required risk as-
sessments.
(C) Australia’s ban on cooked pork.
(D) Australia’s requirement that most feed
grains be steam-treated or processed in an al-
ternative satisfactory manner at the port of
entry.
(E) Chile’s refusal to permit United States
beef in consumer cuts to enter the market with-
out being graded to Chilean standards.
(F) Egypt’s refusal to adhere to the stand-
ard international practice of allowing producers
to determine the shelf life of their product.
(G) The European Union’s failure to re-
quire labeling only for health or safety reasons.
(H) The failure of the European Union’s
Specified Risk Material regulations to recognize
regional disease differences in animal disease
status and to account for available scientific in-
formation and advice relating to the control of
bovine spongiform encephalopathy and other
transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in
products of animal origin.
(I) The failure of the European Union to
implement the requirements of the WTO with
respect to the European Union’s ban on growth
promoting hormones in meat production.
(J) The European Union’s lengthy and un-
predictable approval process for agricultural
products that contain genetically modified orga-
nisms.
(K) Greece’s ban on the import of United
States wheat.
(L) India’s sanitary and phytosanitary re-
strictions on imports of United States wheat.
(M) Israel’s ban on imports of non-kosher
meat and meat products.
(N) South Korea’s excessive labeling re-
quirements.
(O) South Korea’s failure to base its
standards and testing procedures on scientific
risk assessment.
(P) Poland’s zero tolerance policy on weed
seeds.
(Q) Turkey’s ban on cattle and beef im-
ports.
SEC. 4. ACCESSION OF COUNTRIES WITH STATE TRADING
ENTERPRISES TO GENERAL AGREEMENT ON
TARIFFS AND TRADE AND WORLD TRADE OR-
GANIZATION.
Section 1106 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitive-
ness Act of 1988 (19 U.S.C. 2905) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘major foreign country’’ each
place it appears and inserting ‘‘foreign country’’;
(2) in subsection (a), by amending paragraph
(1) to read as follows:
‘‘(1) whether state trading enterprises produce
or procure a significant share of—
‘‘(A) the goods exported from such foreign
country;
‘‘(B) the goods imported into such foreign
country; or
‘‘(C) the goods produced domestically in
such foreign country; and’’; and
(3) in subsection (b)(2)(A)—
(A) by amending clause (i) to read as fol-
lows:
‘‘(i) will make purchases and sales in
international trade based solely on com-
mercial considerations (including price,
quality, availability, marketability, and
transportation), and’’; and
(B) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘, in accord-
ance with customary practice,’’.
SEC. 5. ACCESSION OF CHINA TO THE WTO.
The United States shall not agree to the accession
of the People’s Republic of China to the WTO until the
President certifies to Congress the following:
(1) The People’s Republic of China evenly ap-
plies phytosanitary and veterinary import quarantine
standards that are based upon modern laboratory
techniques.
(2) The People’s Republic of China agrees to
eliminate the restrictive import licensing require-
ments it imposes on pork products.
(3) The People’s Republic of China agrees to
permit the unrestricted importation of meat prod-
ucts.
SEC. 6. THE ACCESSION OF RUSSIA TO THE WTO.
The United States shall not agree to the accession
of Russia to the WTO until the President certifies to Con-
gress the following:
(1) Russia agrees to change the Russian Veteri-
nary Department requirements in a manner that
brings the requirements into conformity with the
WTO’s Agreement on the Application of Sanitary
and Phytosanitary Measures. In particular the re-
quirements must be more transparent and based on
sound science.
(2) Russia agrees to change other sanitary and
phytosanitary requirements that violate the WTO
Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and
Phytosanitary Measures, especially the requirements
governing the import of planting seeds and meat
products.
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