ID :
13428
Tue, 07/22/2008 - 23:47
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/13428
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WTO members willing to clinch deal: Japan farm minister
GENEVA, July 22 Kyodo - Japanese farm minister Masatoshi Wakabayashi met with Japanese politicians Tuesday in Geneva and explained that members of the World Trade Organization are willing to conclude the Doha Round of trade liberalization talks.
''Each member is sending a message indicating willingness to conclude (the negotiations),'' though the members were ''rather calm'' at the start of the ongoing ministerial talks, according to participants in the meeting.
Wakabayashi, agriculture, forestry and fisheries minister, is taking part in the WTO ministerial talks that are seen as a make-or-brake opportunity to unlock the beleaguered Doha Round talks. Ministers from 30-plus WTO members gathered for the talks, which are expected to last about a week, to reach a successful conclusion for the seven-year-old negotiations.
Wakabayashi met with the Japanese lawmakers including Koichi Kato, former secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and representatives of Japanese agricultural groups, who are visiting Geneva for lobbying activities.
Among those at the meeting with Wakabayashi was former Japanese farm minister Yoshio Yatsu.
During the meeting with Wakabayashi, Yatsu expressed caution about a European Union compromise proposal on agricultural tariff cuts, the participants said.
Yatsu said he does not understand what the European Union is driving at, they said.
EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said Monday that the European Union is ready to cut agricultural tariffs by 60 percent, compared with a cut of 54 percent proposed in the WTO text for the farm negotiations, if the 27-nation European Union gets a strong commitment from developing countries to open up markets for industrial goods.
The move has apparently sent shock waves among Japanese negotiators as it could put Tokyo into a corner in the WTO negotiations for farm products.
The European Union has generally been seen with Japan as on the defensive in farm negotiations and as aiming to protect high tariffs for farm products against growing calls from farm-exporting countries such as the United States and key emerging economies.
''Each member is sending a message indicating willingness to conclude (the negotiations),'' though the members were ''rather calm'' at the start of the ongoing ministerial talks, according to participants in the meeting.
Wakabayashi, agriculture, forestry and fisheries minister, is taking part in the WTO ministerial talks that are seen as a make-or-brake opportunity to unlock the beleaguered Doha Round talks. Ministers from 30-plus WTO members gathered for the talks, which are expected to last about a week, to reach a successful conclusion for the seven-year-old negotiations.
Wakabayashi met with the Japanese lawmakers including Koichi Kato, former secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and representatives of Japanese agricultural groups, who are visiting Geneva for lobbying activities.
Among those at the meeting with Wakabayashi was former Japanese farm minister Yoshio Yatsu.
During the meeting with Wakabayashi, Yatsu expressed caution about a European Union compromise proposal on agricultural tariff cuts, the participants said.
Yatsu said he does not understand what the European Union is driving at, they said.
EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said Monday that the European Union is ready to cut agricultural tariffs by 60 percent, compared with a cut of 54 percent proposed in the WTO text for the farm negotiations, if the 27-nation European Union gets a strong commitment from developing countries to open up markets for industrial goods.
The move has apparently sent shock waves among Japanese negotiators as it could put Tokyo into a corner in the WTO negotiations for farm products.
The European Union has generally been seen with Japan as on the defensive in farm negotiations and as aiming to protect high tariffs for farm products against growing calls from farm-exporting countries such as the United States and key emerging economies.
