President Duterte’s marching order to the country’s trade negotiators is to see to it that agreements forged at the World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting would not be detrimental to the Philippine farm sector, according to Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol.
“Of course [we will protect the farmers]. The President will always protect the farmers. But not to the point of straining the Philippines’s relationship with other countries,” Piñol said in an interview during the opening of the 14th Regular Session of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission held in Pasay City on December 3.
“We have to negotiate what is best for Philippine agriculture. I will just play a supporting role to the trade secretary because he is the head of the delegation. But I assure the Filipino people that, as agriculture secretary, I will make sure that our interests are protected,” he added.
Piñol said he is prepared to block any trade agreements that would put Filipino farmers at a disadvantage. “Of course, if [an agreement] is detrimental to Philippine agriculture and fisheries, we will block it.” “But we do not go to Argentina just to block deals. We are going to Argentina with the idea of negotiating and getting what is best for Filipino farmers and fishermen,” he added.
The Philippine delegation to the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC11) slated from December 10 to 14 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is headed by Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez. Piñol said Agriculture Undersecretary for Policy and Planning Segfredo R. Serrano is also part of the delegation to MC11.
The ministerial conference is the biennial meeting of the WTO’s topmost decision-making body.
Documents obtained by the BusinessMirror earlier indicated that the Philippines is poised to
reject any new agreement on agriculture at MC11 if it would not include the special safeguard mechanism (SSM) that would allow developing countries to protect their farm sectors from import surges.
The country’s statement concerning its priorities for MC11, a copy of which was obtained by the BusinessMirror, indicated that the passage of a “concrete framework” for SSM would play a “critical role” in getting the nod of Manila for any agricultural package at MC11.
The Philippines’s statement was delivered by Trade Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo Jr. during the informal ministerial meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco, on October 9 and 10.
“Let me underscore that the Philippines’s priority in MC11 is SSM. Developing countries, including the Philippines, have been denied access to SSM since the July Framework Mandate in 2004, thus, it is high time that a concrete and operational decision on SSM is issued at MC11,” Rodolfo said.
“The Philippines would be put in a very difficult position agreeing to any package of agriculture outcomes in MC11 without SSM included thereto; thus, meaningful engagement on SSM must be demonstrated in good faith if we are all to succeed,” he added.
Rodolfo said the Philippines may not support new issues at MC11 if core issues relevant to agricultural trade, such as SSM, is not tackled.
“Denying developing countries once more the access to SSM is not only unacceptable, this is also a remiss of our mandates that all our ministers already decided a long time ago under the July Framework, Hong Kong Declaration and Nairobi Decision. Thus, inaction for SSM cannot be and is not an option if we are to succeed in MC11,” he said.
“Reaching the needed balance for success requires exhaustion of all efforts on all priorities of members for a MC11 decision, especially that there is no clear deliverable yet at this juncture,” Rodolfo added.
The SSM has become one of the most contentious trade issues within the WTO, especially
between developed and developing countries. SSM is a tool that will allow developing countries to raise tariffs temporarily to deal with import surges or price falls, according to the WTO.
In 2004 WTO member-countries agreed that SSM will be established for use by developing countries, as indicated in the so-called July Framework. In the 2005 Hong Kong Declaration, WTO developing country members will have the right to recourse to SSM based on import quantity and price triggers.
However, 13 years after the SSM was first floated within the WTO, a concrete framework on it has yet to be crafted. One of the most contentious issues concerning SSM is the “trigger level” and the rate of tariffs that will be imposed.
Under the current WTO Agreement on Agriculture, the Philippines has applied the special safeguards (SSG) to at least 118 farm commodities. SSG serves as contingency restrictions on imports taken temporarily to deal with special circumstances, such as a sudden surge in imports, according to the WTO. Some of the agricultural issues to be discussed at MC11 include domestic support, cotton, market access, export restrictions and sanitary and phytosanitary measures.