European Union: Shadow WTO agricultural domestic support notifications

The notification of the level of domestic support to the World Trade Organization (WTO) is intended to reflect compliance with obligations entered into at the time of the Uruguay Round. WTO members have often been slow to provide notification of domestic support levels. This makes the process of notification less useful as an indicator of the degree to which changes in policy have or have not benefited the trade system as a whole and exporting countries in particular. The notification of domestic support in the E.U. illustrates the value of a measure that reflects current policies and can therefore act as a basis for negotiation of further disciplines where these are necessary. The E.U. has made major changes in its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) over the period since 1992 when the MacSharry reforms were implemented. Payments originally notified in the blue box (related to supply control) have over time been changed until in their present form they are unrelated to current production or price levels, and hence can satisfy the criteria for the green box. The E.U. has therefore much more latitude in trade talks to agree to reductions in the allowable trade-distorting support. This paper reproduced the E.U. notifications relating to 2003/04 and extends these with official statistics to the year 2006/07. It then projects forward the components of domestic support until the year 2013/14, based on forecasts of future production and estimates of policy parameters. The impact of a successful Doha Round is simulated, showing that the constraints envisaged in the WTO draft modalities document of May 19, 2008, would be binding by the year 2013, at about the time the next budget cycle in the E.U. starts. Without the Doha Round constraints, further reform might still happen for domestic reasons, but the framework provided by the WTO for domestic policy spending would be less relevant. In that case, much could hinge on the legitimacy of the Single Farm Payment system under the current rules governing the green box.

Explaining the 'health check' of the Common Agricultural Policy: budgetary politics, globalisation and paradigm change revisited

Three potential explanations of past reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) can be identified in the literature: a budget constraint, pressure from General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade/World Trade Organization (GATT/WTO) negotiations or commitments and a paradigm shift emphasising agriculture’s provision of public goods. This discussion on the driving forces of CAP reform links to broader theoretical questions on the role of budgetary politics, globalisation of public policy and paradigm shift in explaining policy change. In this article, the Health Check reforms of 2007/2008 are assessed. They were probably more ambitious than first supposed, although it was a watered-down package agreed by ministers in November 2008. We conclude that the Health Check was not primarily driven by budget concerns or by the supposed switch from the state-assisted to the multifunctional policy paradigm. The European Commission’s wish to adopt an offensive negotiating stance in the closing phases of the Doha Round was a more likely explanatory factor. The shape and purpose of the CAP post-2013 is contested with divergent views among the Member States.

European Union

Determination of shadow notifications of domestic support for agriculture in the European Union under the WTO (World Trade Organization) Agreement on Agriculture, and consideration of the potential impact of an agreement in the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations.

Fruit and vegetables, and the role they have played in determining the EU’s aggregate measurement of support

In its periodic declarations of domestic support to the WTO, the EU has progressively reduced its amber-box declarations in line with its changing system of farm support. Surprisingly, however, in 2007/08 it managed to more than halve its amber box compared with that of the previous year, easily achieving the reduction targets being touted in the Doha Round. This was largely due to a change in the calculations for fresh fruits and vegetables. These had been linked to the entry price system, which was not affected by the 2008 fruit and vegetables reform. Why the EU chose to make this change during the ongoing Doha Round negotiations remains unclear.

Another reform? proposals for the post-2013 Common Agricultural Policy

Following two decades of policy change, in 2011 the European Commission tabled proposals for a new ‘reform’ of the CAP. A major component of the reform would be a revamping of the existing system of direct payments to farmers. For example, 30% of the spend would be dependent on farmers respecting new greening criteria; and payments would be restricted to active farmers and subject to a payment cap. These proposals will be debated by the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament throughout 2012, and possibly 2013, before final decisions are reached. What aspects, if any, of the proposals will prove acceptable is yet to be discerned. Although tabled as part of a financial package, the proposals do not appear to be driven by financial exigency: indeed they seek to maintain the expenditure status quo. Nor do they appear to be driven by international pressures: if anything, they backtrack on previous attempts to bring the CAP into conformity with a post-Doha WTO Agreement on Agriculture. Instead they seek to establish a new partnership between society and ‘farmers, who keep rural areas alive, who are in contact with the ecosystems and who produce the food we eat’ (Cioloș 2011), in an attempt to justify continuing support.

Too Many Bad Cooks Spoiling the Broth? Effectiveness of NGOs in Addressing Child Labour in El Salvador

The reaction of the first world to the persevering plight of a large part of the third world varies. In response to the sometimes glaring disparities, many international organizations and multinational corporations have recently adopted a pro-development rhetoric with relation to the problem of global poverty. However, the rhetoric rarely translates into action. As David Bacon discusses, leaders of corporations and organizations now tend to conclude their speeches by expressing a desire to reduce the suffering of the third world. However, when it comes to agreeing on specific concessions that could indeed improve the world-wide economic situation, first world countries are reluctant to act. A good example of this type of behavior is the current negotiation of the WTO, the “development round of Doha,” in which the United States along with the European Union pressure countries of the developing South to open up their markets, while at the same time refusing to remove or even decrease their own agricultural subsidies. The first world civil society observes the behavior of international organizations and western based multinational corporations as ineffectual. Taking the matter in its own hands, especially in the past couple of decades, this civil society has created a countless number of development-oriented nongovernmental organizations. These are supposed to compensate for the lack of action by international organizations. Development NGOs are believed to be more locally responsive as well as free of business or political considerations in choosing their strategies, and thus generally more efficient than IOs. However, if they really were how they are alleged to be, the problems of the third world would already be ameliorated by a significant amount, if not completely eradicated. Do development-NGOs indeed possess the characteristics that they claim to possess? What is their real affect on human rights? And how effective are they in their work?

Souvenirs of the senses: collaborative and cross-artform makings

Souvenir hunters are often limited in their selection of souvenirs to objects that evoke an iconic and/or generic relationship to place. For example, a small-scale replica of the Eiffel Tower might substitute for a whole range of other more personal responses to the sensory experience of being in Paris. This paper reports on a collaborative and cross-artform five-day workshop, “Souvenirs of the Senses”, conducted in Qatar in early 2013 as part of Tasmeem Doha: Hybrid Making, a biennial international art and design conference. Two of the three workshop leaders, Patrick West and Jondi Keane, were Australian-based visitors whereas workshop leader Valerie Jeremijenko is permanently based in Qatar. There were five workshop participants from a diverse range of international and Qatari backgrounds. One of the conference themes, “Made in Qatar”, heightened our attention to what it means to be spending time in, and making things in, one place as opposed to any other place. What did it mean to be making something in a country where so many things have to be imported? Building on this line of thought, the second conference theme, “Hybrid Making”, suggested possibilities for undoing traditional modes of souvenir making as part of the creation of more complex objects that might be sutured to the singular experiences of place that happen when a.) established regimes of tourism are disrupted, and b.) experiences of place are curated via a focused awareness of the operations of the senses as sustained within our collaborative, cross-artform workshop environment. What attracts our attention is how objects ripe for “souveniring”, when they are considered as perceptual systems, suggest new ways of experimenting with the fabrication of objects and of artistic and individual relationships to place, and further, how hybrid souvenirs affect the way in which a place is re-membered (put together) and re-made in memory.

Material writing: Towards hybrid-making

Writing operates in an expanding field of intersections between symbol, inflection and further meaning. The materiality of writing, its embodied action, situated context and myriad substantive expressions, requires an interdisciplinary approach best advanced by collaborative teams and fuelled by collective concerns. At a recent design conference, Doha 2013: Hybrid Making, our team of creative arts researchers (Jondi Keane, Patrick West and Valerie Jeremijenko) conducted a workshop based on the idea of reverse engineering the notion of a souvenir, by starting with the sensation rather than the iconic image. The approaches explored by the group focused on the ways in which a sensation, emotion and/or idea attach to an object and how an object offers itself as an attractor for memory and indicate that when experience, sensation and place are emphasized, the materiality of writing comes to the fore. We assert that material writing allows or even requires a fluid movement between conceptual and perceptual modes of creative practice. In this paper we will unpack different methods of material writing: the materiality of the act of writing with substances, site-specific/site-conditioned writing and 3D printing. Through the particularity of each mode of material writing our discussions will examine the points of attachment that we, as symbolizing creatures, produce in order to orient and reconstruct a world on the fly. Material writing constantly brings us back to earth, anchoring us to the expanded processes integral to hybrid-making.

Q-fever and Australian farmers: is the health system paying enough attention? A literature review

Introduction: Q-fever is caused by Coxiella burnetii, a Gram-negative bacterium and Rickettsia-like organism. Transmitted from wild and domestic animals to humans, the most common route is inhalation of contaminated dust; however the oral route can be considered as a second pathway. Aim: to understand the reasons behind not including farming workforce and their families in the national vaccinations program. Discussion: In 1977 Q-fever became a notifiable disease nationally. Australia is the only country to have a registered Q-fever vaccine. As a result of the cost of the vaccine, Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) supply and subsidised program arrangements are based on the active cases count per year (by occupation), rather than for occupations that expose workers to high level of possible "risk". Conclusion: Australian farmers, farm managers, farm workers and their families need to be well educated about Q-fever and included in the national vaccination program.

Impacts of the proposals for tariff reductions in non-agricultural market access (Nama)

O Estudo Visa Avaliar os Impactos de Propostas Alternativas de Redução da Proteção Tarifária de Bens Não-Agrícolas Sobre a Economia Brasileira Usando um Modelo de Equilíbrio Geral Computável. Foram Simulados os Impactos da Implementação de Cortes Tarifários de Acordo com Diferentes Coeficientes para a Fórmula Suíça. as Simulações Foram Realizadas com o Modelo Gtap e Todos os Choques Tarifários Foram Calculados a Partir de Informações da Base de Dados Macmap. Além de Analisar Resultados Macroeconômicos e Setoriais, Também foi Testada a Sensibilidade dos Resultados em Relação ao Aumento das Elasticidades de Armington e À Ocorrência de uma Simultânea Liberalização de Tarifas Sobre Bens Agrícolas.

O desafio dos novos padrões regulatórios nos acordos preferenciais de comércio para a estratégia brasileira em propriedade intelectual

Percebeu-se, nos últimos anos, uma proliferação de acordos preferenciais de comércio, por conta do impasse da Rodada Doha, bem como outros fenômenos nas negociações internacionais. Países e blocos econômicos como EUA, UE, Índia e China, a fim de intensificar suas relações comerciais, desenvolveram modelos de acordos, que apresentam regulações para além da OMC, ou seja, com novos temas que não constam nos acordos da organização e normatização além daquela já estabelecida no sistema multilateral de comércio. Esta estratégia regulatória pode afetar as negociações multilaterais, já que os temas de interesse negociados na Rodada Doha estão sendo incorporados bilateralmente. Diante deste fenômeno, supõe-se que países que optaram pela estratégia multilateral, como o Brasil, podem ter sua estratégia prejudicada, na medida em que as tendências de negociação por importantes atores do sistema multilateral passam a estar pré-definidas. Diante desta hipótese, o desafio deste trabalho é verificar em que medida a regulação bilateral nos APCs dos países se contrapõe às propostas brasileiras no multilateral e, assim, afeta interesses do país. Como foco deste trabalho foi selecionado o tema de propriedade intelectual e comércio, uma área considerada bastante sensível nas negociações internacionais, tanto para países em desenvolvimento quanto desenvolvidos. A pesquisa aqui consolidada foi desenvolvida no contexto do projeto IPEA sobre “Tendências nos acordos regionais e bilaterais de comércio face ao sistema multilateral de regras de comércio: elementos para um debate sobre direito e desenvolvimento no Brasil” e, assim, propõe-se a analisar precisamente o contraponto entre a regulação dos capítulos sobre propriedade intelectual em APCs assinados por EUA, UE, Índia e China e propostas apresentadas pelo Brasil na Rodada Doha, a fim de identificar convergências ou divergências nas estratégias daqueles países e como podem interferir nas negociações multilaterais e na estratégia de negociações comerciais brasileira.

A China como membro da OMC e líder das exportações mundiais: desafios e oportunidade para o Brasil

O objetivo deste artigo é analisar a evolução do papel da China na OMC, os compromissos assumidos no seu processo de acessão à organização, bem como seus interesses na Rodada de Doha de negociações internacionais do comércio. Diante desse quadro, o artigo analisa alguns impactos da Política de Comércio Internacional da China para o Brasil e de como o quadro regulatório da OMC pode ser usado para dirimir alguns dos conflitos existentes

Os BRICS na OMC: políticas comerciais comparadas de Brasil, Rússia, Índia, China e África do Sul

O objetivo deste livro é realizar uma análise comparada das políticas comerciais de cada integrante do BRICS, tendo a Organização Mundial de Comércio (OMC) como quadro de referência. Assim, busca-se examinar a inserção de cada um deles no comércio internacional, bem como sua participação no regime multilateral de comércio, tanto em seu pilar diplomático-jurídico, o sistema de solução de controvérsias, quanto em seu pilar político-negociador, as negociações da Rodada Doha, nas quais se observa um importante exercício de articulação entre os países do grupo. O capítulo I apresenta os principais momentos do desenvolvimento da interação política dos BRICS e revive a história da participação de Brasil, Índia e África do Sul no GATT e na OMC, além de traçar as fases de acessão da China e da Rússia à organização. O capítulo II traz análises do perfil do comércio internacional de cada país, apresentando a evolução dos principais indicadores de comércio desde o início da década de 2000. A partir deste quadro geral, os dez capítulos seguintes, do capítulo III ao XII, examinam os principais temas de política comercial: tarifas de bens agrícolas e não agrícolas; agricultura; barreiras técnicas, sanitárias e fitossanitárias; defesa comercial (antidumping, medidas compensatórias, salvaguardas); serviços; propriedade intelectual; investimentos; acordos plurilaterais (tecnologia da informação e compras governamentais); novos temas (temas de Cingapura e meio ambiente); e acordos preferenciais. No capítulo XIII, destaca-se a participação de cada país do BRICS em uma das instâncias mais relevantes da OMC, o Órgão de Solução de Controvérsias (OSC), fórum de resolução de conflitos comerciais e de interpretação de importantes conceitos que, devido ao esforço de se concluir a Rodada Uruguai, foram deixados na ambiguidade. O capítulo XIV trata da participação de cada integrante do BRICS na Rodada Doha, examinando suas principais propostas e posições. Analisam-se detalhadamente as primeiras iniciativas de articulação política em diferentes temas de negociação, como o G20 Agrícola e o Grupo sobre Acesso ao Mercado de Produtos Não Agrícolas (Nama-11). Por fim, no capítulo de síntese e conclusões, destacam-se os pontos de convergência e os de divergência em cada tema de política comercial analisado nesta obra, com o objetivo de ilustrar as dificuldades enfrentadas para coordenar posições e identificar os temas em que a cooperação poderia ser realizada de forma mais ativa

A regulação do comércio global nos setores de milho, arroz, trigo e soja

O presente trabalho buscará apresentar as principais barreiras ao comércio e políticas de subsídios impostas ao milho, arroz, trigo e soja, a fim de permitir uma adequação desses setores e das políticas públicas a eles destinadas, para que a inserção da produção brasileira no comércio internacional seja possível. O primeiro capítulo apresentará as barreiras tarifárias impostas ao milho, arroz, trigo e soja pelos principais consumidores e importadores mundiais, verificando-se, também, a existência de tarifas preferenciais concedidas a outros importantes exportadores, o que poderia prejudicar a competitividade do Brasil. O segundo capítulo abordará as barreiras não tarifárias aplicadas aos setores, com a discussão dos principais temas que vêm sendo discutidos e questionados nos comitês relevantes da OMC, bem como a análise e desenvolvimentos das regras que regem a aplicação de barreiras técnicas, sanitárias e fitossanitárias. O terceiro capítulo tratará das regras da OMC referentes aos subsídios agrícolas e apresentará alguns dos programas de subsídios voltados ao milho, arroz, trigo e soja notificados e/ou questionados na OMC, incluindo as questões levantadas acerca da conformidade dos programas de subsídios brasileiros às regras de comércio internacional. Finalmente, o quarto capítulo discorrerá sobre as negociações da Rodada Doha, que caso concluídas com base nos textos atuais, poderão trazer alterações significativas às regras e barreiras aplicáveis ao setor agrícola, trazendo impactos diretos às exportações brasileiras