Twenty-Five Ways to Improve the Derbez Draft

1. Twenty-Five Ways to Improve the Derbez Draft International Food and Agriculture Trade Policy Council www.agritrade.org

2. The Doha Development Round Challenge Go beyond accomplishments of Uruguay Round 888888888 Ensure meaningful increases in market access 8888888888 Ensure meaningful reductions in all forms of trade-distorting support 888888888 Ensure that all commodities participate in all reforms

3. Uruguay Round Accomplishments & Shortcomings: Market Access • Made border protection visible and binding • Eliminated exemptions on sensitive products • Sugar, dairy • Required minimum market access • Increased quotas with formulas • Averaged tariff cuts across all commodities • Allowed some products to escape real reductions

4. Guiding Principles: Market Access Reduce higher tariffs by more than lower tariffs 888888888 Establish tariff ceiling on all products without exceptions 888888888 Expand tariff-rate quotas with formulas, not request-offer

5. Recommendations: Market Access • Require minimum tariff cut, per tariff line. • Allow minimal use of Uruguay Round formula for developed countries. Allow broader use of Uruguay Round formula for developing countries. • Reduce most peak tariffs to tariff ceiling immediately; phase down tariffs to ceiling for sensitive products, developing countries.

6. Recommendations: Market Access • Expand TRQs by formula, based on rising percent of national consumption, commodity by commodity. • Reduce all in-quota tariffs to zero. • Negotiate guidelines on TRQ administration. • Use reduction factor, tariff ceilings, tariff line disciplines to tackle tariff escalation.

7. Recommendations: Market Access • Allow special safeguards for developed and developing countries, bind thresholds and tariff lines. • Do not designate, or sharply limit Special Products. • Require immediate duty and quota free access for Least Developed Countries.

8. Uruguay Round Accomplishments & Shortcomings: Export Competition • Disciplined export subsidies • Did not discipline all forms of subsidized export competition • Export credits • Food aid • State trading entities • Did not discipline embargoes, restrictions, taxes

9. Guiding Principles: Export Competition Reduce and eliminate all forms of subsidized export competition 888888888 Reduce subsidized export competition for all commodities in tandem 888888888 Discipline export bans, taxes and restrictions

10. Recommendations: Export Competition • Fix date to eliminate all forms of subsidized export competition. • Allow developing countries to determine “products of interest” for export subsidy elimination • Allow developing countries to determine “products of interest” for export credit subsidy elimination. • Reduce and eliminate subsidies for state-trading entities, and monopoly trading powers.

11. Recommendations: Export Competition • Require all food aid in grant form. • Phase out commodity specific export subsidies under S&D on same timetable as other export subsidies. • Require domestic market to share burden of export restrictions.

12. Uruguay Round Accomplishments & Shortcomings: Domestic Support • Classified domestic support according to trade impact • Encouraged shift away from trade-distorting subsidies • Averaged subsidy cut across all commodities • Weakened impact of subsidy cuts on highly protected crops • Exempted subsidies with supply controls from cuts

13. Guiding Principles: Domestic Support Sharply reduce all forms of trade-distorting support 888888888 Reduce support commodity by commodity 888888888 Require larger reductions from countries with higher levels of support

14. Recommendations: Domestic Support • Require product-specific cuts in trade distorting subsidies. • Revise Green Box criteria to minimize trade distortions. • Reduce product-specific Amber Box subsidies. • Cap, reduce Blue Box on product specific basis.

15. Recommendations: Domestic Support • Reduce product and non-product specific de minimis support. • Do not add “non-trade” rationales, do not allow offsets for “negative” support. • Allow grace period for new members, but not longer implementation or shallower commitments. • Extend full Peace Clause only for duration of negotiations, afterwards on Green Box only.

16. For a copy of Twenty Five Ways to Improve the Derbez Draft or other IPC publications, visit the IPC website at www.agritrade.org.