October 14, 2001
Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka and European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy reaffirmed Saturday their intention to oppose drastic farm trade liberalization at the proposed launch of new global trade talks under the World Trade Organization, a Japanese official said.
"The two ministers reconfirmed that they will continue to cooperate on farm trade," the official said.
Meeting on the sidelines of an informal two-day WTO ministerial meeting in Singapore, Tanaka told Lamy that a ministerial declaration to be adopted at a full ministerial meeting on Nov. 9-13 in Doha, Qatar, should not set a specific direction on farm trade to be negotiated under the new round.
Lamy responded that liberalization of agriculture trade should be promoted in a way that meets the requirements of each country, according to the official.
Farm trade is a major sticking point in the WTO's efforts to launch a new round as Japan and the EU oppose drastic liberalization of the farm sector.
But the Cairns Group of major farm produce-exporting countries, including Australia and Canada, is calling for improvements in market access and reductions in subsidies.
They want the ministerial declaration to include specific commitments, such as applying the same rules to farm products as those for industrial goods and the abolition of export subsidies.
Tanaka and Lamy also agreed to continue cooperation between Japan and the EU on a variety of other issues, such as investment and competition policies and trade rules related to the environment, the official said.
Lamy called for support from Japan for talks on establishing trade regulations related to the environment, which a draft ministerial declaration said will not be a subject for negotiation.
Tanaka said Japan will extend as much support as possible to the EU's bid to seek WTO negotiations on the environment as Japan believes the issue is important.
But another Japanese official said Japan is not likely to support the idea of "precautionary principles" that the EU wants the WTO to address in the next trade round.
The principles would allow countries to restrict imports, without scientific evidence, of goods they believe would damage the environment.
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