Inside US Trade | November 19, 1999
The U.S. this week unveiled more details of its proposal to create a working party in the World Trade Organization on agricultural products and emerging technologies. The working party would examine these issues for 18 months, at which point the U.S. wants to proceed to negotiating disciplines to tighten up approval processes for agricultural biotechnology products.
In the U.S. view, these negotiations would produce an interpretive note to the WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, not reopen the text of the agreement.
In its work until the mid-term review of the negotiating round, the group would seek to identify the key issues relating to approval processes for new technologies, particularly biotechnology, officials said. It would focus only on agricultural products and leave aside pharmaceutical products produced with biotechnology processes.
This is an ambitious plan given the fact that there is considerable opposition to even the creation of a working group in the WTO (Inside U.S. Trade, Nov. 12, p. 3).
As laid out, the U.S. proposal has a narrower mandate than earlier proposals submitted by Canada and Japan. At press time, it was unclear when the U.S. would formally table its proposal with the WTO. Up to now, the U.S. presented it to selected delegations in small informal meetings.
The U.S. is also opposed to any review of whether existing WTO agreements apply to biotechnology, sources said. In its proposal for a biotechnology working group, Japan wants to examine whether existing WTO agreements, such as SPS, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade.
The Japanese proposal seeks a broad examination of trade in genetically-modified organisms, including the benefits of GMOs, a review of the environmental and health concerns as well as consideration of consumer concerns. Japan also wants to examine appropriate ways for the WTO to deal with discussions on GMOs in other international fora.
Canada, which initially called for a working party, wants WTO members to assess the adequacy of existing rules for agricultural and pharmaceutical biotechnology products as well as other members' ability to implement them.
Last week, a large number of developing countries and some developed countries opposed language in the draft declaration calling for the creation of working party on biotechnology. The language was supported only by Japan, Canada, Argentina, New Zealand, Chile and Uruguay.
