EU response to the Harbinson paper
Citation
CTA. 2003. EU response to the Harbinson paper. Agritrade, March 2003. CTA, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Permanent link to cite or share this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10568/52930
External link to download this item: http://agritrade.cta.int/Back-issues/Agriculture-monthly-news-update/2003/March-2003
Abstract/Description
The EU was less than enthusiastic about the first draft of the Harbinson paper,...
Notes
The EU was less than enthusiastic about the first draft of the Harbinson paper, complaining that the burden of change was shared unevenly and that little attention had been paid to major EU concerns about non-trade issues and the 'de minimus' loophole. It also expressed concerns over the failure to deal fully with export credits and the abuse of food aid, whilst wanting a complete phasing-out of export refunds within nine years.
In addition the EU also maintained that the draft paper failed to address the issue of preference erosion for traditional preferred developing country suppliers. Commissioner Fischler also rejected the idea that 'amber' and 'blue' box measures were equally trade distorting. In a joint statement the French trade and agriculture ministers maintained that any new trade opportunities generated under the proposed approach would primarily benefit the existing major food exporters and would not benefit developing countries. The French ministers also expressed concern that the proposed approach would undermine the basic concept of 'community preferences' on which the CAP has always been based. Overall, Commissioner Fischler has for some time now been of the view that no agreement would be reached by the March 31st 2003 deadline.
Organizations Affiliated to the Authors
Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural CooperationCollections
- CTA Agritrade [1158]