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Report
No.230506 |
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- International - |
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WTO Negotiation Framework to be Agreed at the End of April, 2006 The World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Council Meeting in Hong Kong closed on December 18, after adopting the Ministerial Declaration which says that a framework for trade liberalization negotiations under the new multilateral trade round (Doha Round) shall be established by April 30, 2006. The ministerial declaration did not say anything about tariff capping in its text related to agricultural market access. However, the annex, which described the status of agriculture negotiations, refers to two opinions saying "Some Members continue to reject completely the concept of a tariff cap. Others have proposed a cap between 75-100%." As regards the sensitive products, for which the degree of market opening shall be less than general products, the declaration says that the ministers "recognize the need to agree on treatment of sensitive products, taking into account all the elements involved." On the date of eliminating the export subsidies, a major difficult issue in agriculture, the declaration provides that it be "completed by the end of 2013." Also on the issue of the developed countries providing duty-free and quota-free import opportunities for the products of the least developed countries, it was agreed to "provide duty-free and quota-free market access for at least 97 per cent of products originating from LDCs by 2008." As for non-agricultural tariff reductions, it was decided to apply 'Swiss formula', by which products with higher tariff will be subject to larger reduction. |
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