Queensland Country Life News Skip directly to: Search Box, Section Navigation, Content.

Opinion

Blogs

Pardon my WTO scepticism

Tariff barriers to be lowered and farm subsidies cut - a dream outcome for Australian primary producers, but the world only has one last chance to achieve the negotiating breakthrough. Pardon my scepticism, but we've heard it all before.

Don't get me wrong, this week's Ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organisation in Geneva is an important meeting. It could even deliver the much-promised breakthrough in the Doha talks.

But given that this Doha Round of negotiations began seven years ago with the view to quickly liberating the developing world of the yoke of western protectionism, I think I can be forgiven for not holding my breath for a breakthrough at this latest gathering.

The problem, as ever, comes down to communications.

The politicians and the vested interest groups talk up every such meeting as "crucial" and "time to deliver", in a bid to add pressure to their opponents to crack under the weight of public expectation.

However, the public is so tired of waiting, so tired of empty rhetoric, that its expectations have lowered to the point of no longer engaging in the debate.

Having observed a WTO Ministerial meeting up close in 2005, it is easy to see how such events become bogged down - getting 153 countries to agree to have lunch at the same time is difficult enough, let alone cutting through the complexity of a global trade negotiation.

The trouble is that it only takes one voice of disagreement to stall the talks. As long-serving former Trade Minister Mark Vaile told me at the time, the winner in any negotiation is "whoever can say no the longest".

But the risk to those employing that strategy is that they may deal the WTO out of relevance, as more and more countries opt for bi-lateral or regional free trade deals to spur economic activity while they wait for Doha to be completed. But those deals too often neglect the poorest nations - the very nations that the Doha Round aimed to lift out of entrenched poverty.

The WTO needs a big breakthrough this week to remain relevant not only to Australian farmers, but as an entity that can deliver economic advancement.

What do you think?

Posted By: MICHAEL THOMSON on 21/07/2008 4:25:17 PM | Comments (4)

Comments

Date: Newest first | Oldest first

The crows still cry g-a-a-tt even though it's now wto. Our zero tariff policy of the nineties reminded me of a kid on a bike "Look Mum no hands." Does Mum ever get on the bike ? It will be the same with carbon emissions trading. Will we ever grow up ?

Posted by Stone the Crows on 23/07/2008 9:52:27 AM

This meeting should deliver a breakthrough, because the new food pricing regime resulting from the US ethanol subsidy should make those direct subsidies on grain production no longer necessary.

Posted by Ted O'Brien on 24/07/2008 11:41:13 AM

In the British 'Farmers Weekly' last week they quoted 'off the header' prices for wheat at 130 pounds/tonne with 25 to 30 pounds extra for milling wheat. In the same article they also quoted cost to grow at 125 pounds per tonne - per tonne, not per hectare! Average yield predicted to be about 8 tonne/hectare. The reality is that the EU, if they reduce subsidies, will have to accept that farmers will stop growing wheat, maybe food. The cost to grow was based on last year's costs, we now need to feed into the equasion recent increases and predicted increases in inputs like fuel, fertilizers and chemicals.

My bet is that subsidies will remain as they are a more acceptable alternative than thousands of farmers, particularly the French, demonstrating in a way that only the French know how.

Posted by Roger Crook on 25/07/2008 8:12:20 AM

The comment from above; “Our zero tariff policy” is really a bit of a joke as far as farmers are concerned. My view of zero tariffs would be no regulations on incoming product or service, and we still have many of them. I would also include any domestic regulation that inhibits the free movement of goods or services, and we have plenty of them.

Instead of grandstanding on the world stage, how about the agri-lobby people stay at home and attack (what is essentially a tariff by another name) the huge restriction on the free trade with-in the domestic economy. If they need an example, just look at the marketing of agriculture products to see how a free type market works. While there may be interference, it does not stop the market moving up or down in the medium term, but normally the short term.

Reducing the cost of agriculture production costs is the best way to improve agriculture terms of trade. The effect of the world trade talks will pale in to comparison as compared to successful domestic reform of the market sector we have complete control over.

Posted by dunart on 8/08/2008 6:43:22 PM

Michael Thomson is the Editor of FarmOnline. He has previously worked as the Canberra Parliamentary Press Gallery correspondent for the Rural Press group of agricultural newspapers, and as a senior reporter with Queensland Country Life.