PHL agri seen to gain from WTO deals on harmful subsidies, food export curbs
THE Philippine agriculture sector stands to benefit from the slew of multilateral accords approved by the World Trade Organization (WTO) that involve curbing harmful fisheries subsidies and refraining from imposing food export restrictions.
The 164 member-countries of the WTO on Friday approved a package that contained at least seven declarations and decisions during its high-level 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) in Geneva, Switzerland. The package was a result of extended negotiations, as MC12 was scheduled to end last June 15 but talks continued nonstop from June 16 until the wee hours of June 17 (Geneva time).
The package includes declarations on the multilateral body’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic and another on emergency to food insecurity. A ministerial decision on exempting food purchases by the World Food Programme from export restrictions was adopted.
Furthermore, trade ministers reached a consensus agreement curbing harmful subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUUF).
The Philippine negotiating team, co-headed by Trade Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo and Agriculture Undersecretary Fermin Adriano, expressed optimism that the country will benefit from these trade agreements struck by the WTO members-countries at MC12.
Rodolfo said the Philippines benefits from a provision of the fisheries deal that allows countries to provide support to their fishermen affected during times of disasters.
“For a country that is very vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters, the flexibility that we got which is allowing governments to support fisherfolks during times of disasters without the concern of getting disputed because of subsidies was very important,” Ceferino told reporters in a virtual press conference Friday afternoon.
Agriculture Undersecretary Cheryl Marie Natividad-caballero, who was part of the negotiating team and handled talks on the fisheries deal, said the approved agreement on curbing harmful fisheries subsidies “elevated the shared values to ensure sustainability” oceans, particularly eliminating overfishing and overcapacity.
Natividad-caballero added that the deal was also clear in eliminating “sanctioned” IUUF in a “non-discriminatory and transparent regime.”
Rodolfo said the Philippines was also able to secure government capability to support fishermen, including artisanal fisheries, within the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone with a reference to International Law of the Sea.
“[The deal] recognized the specific needs of developing states and LDCS to develop their fishing industry by giving the needed space in providing subsidies as may be applicable and as stipulated on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, including the granting of a subsidy for disaster relief,” she told the Businessmirror.
“The latter is most relevant to the Philippines, considering that it is highly vulnerable to natural disasters due to its geography,” she added.
The agriculture official pointed out that it is “high time” for the government to focus on developing the fisheries industry which is “much larger” than the total agriculture production area.
“More government funding/additional budget is needed to scale-up our fishermen and make the fishing industry competitive in a sustainable manner,” Natividad-caballero said.
Earlier, the Philippines expressed support for creating a WTO fund that would support developing countries’ capacity to implement the agreement on curbing harmful fisheries subsidies. (Related story: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2022/06/15/phl-backs-wto-fundfor-fisheries-subsidies/)
Food export restrictions
THE adopted ministerial declaration on food security emphasized that countries shall not impose export prohibitions or restrictions that may distort global food trade and are inconsistent with WTO rules.
The Philippines, a net food importer, has been at the receiving end of the various food export restrictions imposed by countries to ensure their respective supplies and temper food prices amid global economic challenges including the ongoing Ukraine-russia war.
Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar earlier called on the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to ensure that global food trade remains unhampered amid a series of export bans imposed by some countries amid the ongoing Ukrainerussia conflict.
(Related story: https:// businessmirror.com.ph/2022/06/07/ persisting-logistics-crunch-squeezessupply/)
In a letter to FAO Director-general Qu Dongyu, Dar urged FAO to “spearhead another global appeal to various countries to keep unhampered the movement of food and agricultural inputs as part of the global effort to build more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agriculture and food systems.”
About 21 countries globally have existing active export bans on various commodities including India’s wheat, Malaysia’s chickens, Argentina’s beef, among others, based on a public food and fertilizer export restrictions tracker by the International Food Policy Research Institute.
Dar revealed last Thursday that the food crisis is now felt in the Philippines as prices of goods continue to soar, driven by global economic challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing Ukraine-russia war.