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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 November 1999 Issue No. 455 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 November 1999 Issue No. 455
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Profile Travel Books Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Battles in the field at WTO
By Aziza Sami
Last week's visit to Cairo by Isi Siddiqi, special assistant to US Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman, highlighted the efforts the United States is currently exerting to garner the support of developing countries such as Egypt for its agenda at the WTO ministerial meeting in Seattle at the end of November.
Siddiqi
The US is hoping to build a consensus in the agricultural talks in the face of opposition from the European Union (EU) and some members of the G7 group of nations. Hoping to capitalise on Australian and South American discontent with protectionist measures adopted by the EU and Japan, the US is seeking to build a broad front supporting agricultural liberalisation.
Fifteen countries in Latin America are on record opposing the G7 protectionists, Siddiqi told reporters at a press conference held at the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture last week. "Countries like Egypt and India need a strong coalition in order to counter these [G7 countries]. We clarified our concerns to [Egyptian Minister of Agriculture] Mr Wali."
Siddiqi and his delegation also met with Egyptian government officials in charge of the WTO portfolio.
Egypt is one of only a few African countries to have representation in the WTO in Switzerland and hence negotiating ability. It stands to gain from a removal of the protectionist polices currently enforced by the EU -- Egypt's major market for agricultural produce -- which have led to lengthy disputes over the entry of Egyptian agricultural products into the European market.
But while the US is asking Egypt to join a front countering the EU and other protectionist trading blocs, Egypt, on the other hand, is expected to lobby in the coming round of talks for a dismantling of US-imposed barriers to textile imports and anti-dumping measures. This, however, is not likely to occur in the near future due to US internal politics and the opposition by powerful US industry lobbies to "free trade".
Due to current production and marketing methods and the state of the Egyptian economy, the competitive edge of the Egyptian farmer in the global market is not the same as that of his counterpart in the United States, the EU or Japan. So the question is: would Egypt's support for a multilateral liberalisation of trade in agriculture become, in effect, a reinforcing by the Egyptian farmer of the US negotiating position versus other major trading blocs at a time when the problems affecting this farmer's ability to compete globally have not been resolved?
Another issue is the high price of some staple commodities imported by Egypt and other developing countries which constitute a significant factor in preventing these countries from decreasing their balance of payments deficits, according to Siddiqi.
"A compensation system for agriculture is being discussed," said Siddiqi, "and we hope it will go on into the next round, but it has not been settled yet."
The United States is also seeking the support of Egypt and other developing countries for its proposal on "labour rights" which would give the WTO jurisdiction to examine the links between trade and labour, while granting observer status to the International Labour Organisation.
"The US position is not to dictate labour standards, but it is a desire to quantify what labour will benefit from free trade," said Siddiqi. "When we asked for a working group on labour, we had no intention to create labour standards."
Trade relations between Egypt and the United States had soured because of the "labour standards" question in relation to Egyptian textile exports to the United States -- a matter which Egyptian exporters contest as blatant protectionism.
According to Siddiqi, one point of agreement between Egypt and the United States for the upcoming WTO agenda is "the need to increase market access by eliminating tariffs -- at least in the short term -- which have become an impediment to trade". In addition, both sides agree on "the elimination of the heavy use of export subsidies and domestic subsidies [extended to EU farmers by their governments] because it puts developing countries at a disadvantage since they cannot compete with these products."
Points of difference which Siddiqi tactfully referred to as "areas of concern" between the Unites States and Egypt were "food security, and [the need to increase] food aid and technical assistance [to the agricultural sector]".
With the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of 1994, the United States gained ground with the agenda reflecting powerful US business interests. As a result, Egypt, like other developing countries, is committed to liberalising trade in telecommunications, financial services and information technology equipment.
The argument put forward by Siddiqi and proponents who do not doubt the benefits of free trade is that "international trade has increased 15-fold and brought worldwide prosperity to all countries, developed and developing. This is beginning to show in Egypt," he said.
