G-33 locks horns with farm exporters on Doha norms

India and other Group of 33 (G-33) developing countries have cautioned farm exporting nations against placing stringent conditions on “simple” and easy-to-implement “special safeguards mechanism (SSM)” for farm trade by them.

This, according to the G-33, would tilt the scales of developmental mandate of the Doha Agenda, said trade envoys.

Major farm exporters are the United States, Australia and Uruguay, among others.

As attempts to revive the Doha trade negotiations got underway, the focus shifted to SSM, an instrument that leading developing countries want to have to contain unforeseen surges in farm exports.

Ahead of this week’s separate meetings to narrow the gaps in the Doha agriculture and industrial goods dossiers, G-33 issued a comprehensive statement on how negotiators should address SSM, which had been “unduly burdened with a range of conditions”.

G-33 argued that recent global economic developments had highlighted the need for policy reforms in developing countries to strengthen food security and address livelihood concerns of the poor.

“Unlike the rich countries, which repeatedly use the special safeguards time and time again, developing nations have been extremely restrained in the use of this instrument,” G-33 said.

There were various reasons why such restraints would continue under the new SSM. “Apart from the difficulties most developing countries face in generating on-time data, many developing nations import agricultural products to manage critical shortages,” a G-33 proposal stated.

The group also issued two technical papers to combat the criticisms from major agricultural exporters, such as the impact of SSM on normal trade as well as the need for complex elements like pro rata criterion and a price cross-check mechanism.