Developing countries are keen to reach a deal at the World Trade Organisation on a safeguard to protect farmers in poor countries from destabilising surges in imports, Reuters quoted Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Pangestu as saying today. The special safeguard mechanism (SSM) is under negotiation in the WTO"s eight-year-old Doha talks, and differences over the instrument caused the collapse of a meeting of ministers in July 2008 intended to reach a breakthrough in the round. The safeguard remains one of the most sensitive issues in the talks. Poor countries with subsistence farmers say it is essential to protect their livelihoods, while rich countries led by the United States and developing country food exporters fear it could be abused to block trade. Members of the G33 group of developing countries have instructed their negotiators to sort out the remaining issues on the safeguard, Pangestu told a news conference. "We are continuing to work at the technical level and we are continuing to engage constructively with a view to have... a simple, operational, effective, non-burdensome SSM," she said, after a meeting of the G33. WTO members have recently started to examine different possible scenarios for operating the safeguard -- for instance looking at what size increase in imports would trigger its use, and how much tariffs would rise -- in one of the few recent signs of progress in the troubled Doha round. While some developing countries such as Brazil are pushing for rich nations to open their markets to more food imports, the G33 is campaigning to protect the livelihoods of subsistence farmers in countries like Indonesia and India. They fear that unfettered market opening could not only drive poor farmers and their families into bankruptcy in the face of competitive imports, but cheap food from outside could undermine food security by discouraging farmers from producing. Both groups oppose big subsidies paid to farmers by the United States, European Union and other rich countries, which they say drives down international food prices, squeezing farmers in poor countries out of the market. --SPA
