WTO & TTIP

On the current situation of trade policy

Voedsel Anders
Conferentie

Op weg naar eerlijke en duurzame voedsel- en landbouwsystemen

Workshop 1I
Free trade or market regulation within agriculture
Wageningen 12 Februay 2016

Outline
What happened at the WTO in Nairobi
(agriculture on the agenda of MC10)

New agreements on export competition

New safeguards for farmers in developing
countries
New rules to ensure food security

Implications of TTIP for agriculture

Differences in environmental, health and animal
welfare standards. The problem and what could
be done if we wanted
Impact on farmers outside US & EU

What happened at the WTO in Nairobi

(agriculture on the agenda of MC10)

New agreements on export competition

EU and USA dont have to make

any relevant changes on
agriculture export competition
Export Subsidies (EU)
Food Aid and Export Credits (USA)

EU does not have to make new changes on

agriculture export subsides

USA succeed to prevent to be forced by WTO to make any

significant changes on agriculture export competition
USA do not use export subsidies
Now some new rules on food aid and export credits

But ! Rules are too soft.

Worse than original 2005 WTO text (Ref4)
Requires no significant new changes in US policy
This Nairobi agreement
prevents any significant changes in the future

This dossier is now closed at WTO

What happened at the WTO in Nairobi

(agriculture on the agenda of MC10)

New safeguards for farmers in developing countries

New rules to ensure food security

EU and USA blocked new WTO rules to

safeguard farmers in developing
countries and ensure food security
Public stockholding for food security purposes
Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM)

Public stockholding for food security

purposes (example India)
State buys staple crops from small and poor farmers at
price of cost of production if thats above market price
These staple crops are then sold at a very low
(symbolic) price to poor people
If this law gets implemented. India would exceed the
allowed amount of subsidies
It was agreed at WTO in 2013 (by consensus but against
the wish of EU & US) to find a permanent solution to this
problem

Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM)

A tool that will allow developing countries to raise
agriculture tariffs temporarily to deal with import
surges or price falls.

Impact of TTIP on Agriculture

Effect of a free EU-US agriculture market

How many farmers are there

in the EU and US ?
Europe :

13,7 million farmers

average farm size of

12 hectares

USA :

2,0 million farmers

average farm size of

180 hectares
(source EU commission 07/08/2013)

Regulatory issues and Non-Tariff Barriers

Aim: to align the way how the economy is

regulated in EU & US
harmonization = higher or lower standard ?
harmonization

mutual recognition

Different:
history, paradigms, philosophies of regulation
EU: precautionary principle

US: science-based

No easy tradeoffs

TTIP negotiations already have an impact now

Letter to US government (USTR)

from CropLife America 13/11/2013

after a general statement of support for TTIP

[...] However, [we] would like to bring to your attention an EU

proposal being considered to regulate pesticides which if
implemented could prevent 40% of current U.S. agricultural
commodity exports from entering the EU.
We believe that such domestic EU regulation, if finalized and
implemented, can imperil the TTIP. []

What could be done

(if wanted)

Regulatory issues and Non-Tariff Barriers

Different internalization of social and

environment costs

Regulatory issues and Non-Tariff Barriers

Different internalization of social and

environment costs

Impact of TTIP on agriculture

in developing countries

Trade diversion
Lower import barriers for one country (EU/US)
-> replaces import from another country

TTIP => Preference erosion

Example Beef Botswana
Botswana signed EPA to keep trade preferences for beef.
But now, the country must (more or less)
fully open its market to EU imports

Want to know more about TTIP ?

32 min Video YouTube

http://bit.ly/TTIP-wur
TTIP Why it Matters
19.11.2015

TTIP: what it means for our

democracy and ethical
considerations on the
environment, agriculture and
legalsystem

Thank You
Burghard Ilge

Email:
Twitter:
Website:

bi@bothends.org
@bibothends
www.bothends.org