Bush Administration Announces Proposal for Doha Round Reform of the Global Agricultural Trade System
July 29, 2002
The United States has announced its proposal for
comprehensive agricultural trade reform, a goal to which WTO members committed
as part of the Doha round. At the November 2001 Ministerial Conference in Doha,
which launched this round, members set a January 1, 2005, date by which to agree
on agricultural reform through substantially improving market access, reducing
all forms of export subsidies, and substantially reducing trade-distorting
domestic support. The Administration's proposal provides the basis on which the
United States will produce its first comprehensive draft commitment, due by
March 31, 2003.
The United States proposal includes the following:
-
reduction of tariffs on agricultural goods to a maximum
level of 25 percent and a target date for the elimination of all agricultural
tariffs
-
expansion of Tariff-Rate Quotas by 20 percent and
elimination of in-quota duties, phased in over a five-year period
-
elimination of all export subsidies phased in over a
five-year period in equal annual increments
-
prohibition on export taxes on agricultural products,
with a limited exception created for developing countries for
revenue-generating purposes
-
classification of all domestic subsidies as either
trade-distorting or non-trade distorting
-
cap on trade-distorting subsidies at five percent of the
value of agricultural production and a target date for elimination of all
subsidies