HL Deb 21 October 2003 vol 653 cc157-8WA
Lord Hylton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is their policy towards food security and special agricultural products in the poorer developing countries under World Trade Organisation rules. [HL4709]

Baroness Amos

At the Doha ministerial meeting in 2001, it was agreed that the WTO agriculture negotiations would aim to achieve substantial improvements in market access. The UK is firmly committed to this objective and to ensuring that adequate special and differential rules are agreed, with the aim of meeting the development and food security needs of poor countries.

The so-called "food security box" proposals made by developing countries and being discussed in the WTO's Agriculture Committee include:

  1. (a) provisions for developing countries to reduce tariffs by a lower percentage and throughout a longer time period;
  2. (b) the extension of the safeguard mechanism (which is currently available only to the developed WA 158 countries) to protect developing countries during periods of import surges, which threaten domestic production and livelihoods of the poor; and
  3. (c) rules for developing countries to name special products, important for the food and livelihood security of the poor, which would be subject to limited tariff reduction commitments.