In Brief

INTERNATIONAL SEED TREATY SET TO ENTER INTO FORCE

The International Treaty (IT) on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA) will enter into force on 29 June after twelve European countries and the European Community ratified the agreement, thus bringing the number of ratifications to 48 (40 required). "The Treaty provides an international legal framework that will be a key element in ensuring food security, now and in the future," said Jose Esquinas-Alcazar, secretary of FAO's Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Recognising both the sovereign rights and the inter-dependence of countries over their PGRFA, the IT establishes a Multilateral System that aims to facilitate access to PGRFA and benefit-sharing (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 22 November 2001). The Treaty provides for mandatory benefit-sharing in cases when the commercialisation of a product -- which was developed from PGRFA obtained from the Multilateral System -- restricts the product's availability for use in further research and breeding, for instance through intellectual property protection. Access is to be regulated principally by means of a standard material transfer agreement (MTA), which will apply also to transfers to third parties and to all subsequent transfers. The terms of the standard MTA will be developed by an expert group established at the first Meeting of the Interim Committee for the ITPGRFA. The group, which has yet to meet due to funding constraints, will report to the second meeting of the Interim Committee. It is hoped that the entry into force of the Treaty will revive some of the momentum that led to its adoption.

ICTSD reporting; "Treaty on biodiversity to become law," FAO PRESS RELEASE, 31 March 2004.

SENSE OF MOVEMENT IN AGRICULTURE NEGOTIATIONS

WTO delegates that participated in agriculture negotiations from 22-26 March (see BRIDGES Weekly, 24 March 2004) reported a change of tone in the concluding plenary of the WTO Committee on Agriculture (CoA) special session. Reportedly, the week's intensive consultations led to a more positive negotiating climate as Members finally started listening to each other, following months marked by a generally negative tone in the post-Cancun agriculture debate. While the Chair of the special (negotiating) session Ambassador Tim Groser (New Zealand) in his concluding assessment said that Members had not yet reached a "problem-solving mode", he noted emerging consensus on the aim to agree on a negotiating framework by end-July, which would later be fleshed out to full modalities.

Working on the framework text, negotiators would act on the "working hypothesis" as the text might not include numbers, Groser said. This would require that Members show "conditional trust," taking into account that the parameters set out in the Doha mandate on agriculture, would remain "the political anchor" for the negotiation outcomes. According to trade sources, market access emerged as the most contentious negotiating area. Many participants expressed their discontent with the 'blended' tariff reduction formula, which was first introduced by the US-EU draft framework text last August (see BRIDGES Weekly, 21 August 2003) and modified in several subsequent drafts. Some, such as the Cairns Group members, said they were unconvinced by the blended formula as it might not lead to real new market access, while others such as the Switzerland-led G-10 found it too restrictive. Sources reported that most speakers agreed that developing countries should be allowed a category of special products (SPs) to be exempted from general reduction commitments. However, differences remained over the conditions for designating SPs. Groser scheduled another four 'Agriculture Weeks' for 20-23 April, 2-4 June, 23-25 June and 14-16 July. The upcoming April session will use the current negotiating format -- consisting mainly of informal negotiations -- but may be somewhat more structured, sources reported.

ICTSD reporting.

ANGOLA BANS GM CEREAL IMPORTS, MAURITIUS MOVES ON LEGISLATION

Angola became the latest African country to ban the import of genetically modified (GM) seeds and grain, including in GM food aid, unless they are milled prior to arrival. The country thereby joined Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique and Lesotho, which had set the same conditions for imports in 2002 (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 27 June 2002). Zambia continues to ban the import even of milled GM cereals. The Angolan standard setting body has called for the establishment of national biosafety regulations on the sale of transport of GMOs, which should be based on the precautionary approach and conform to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) recommendations on biotechnology and biodiversity, according to the body's Chairman Gome Cardoso.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly of Mauritius on 23 March adopted the Genetically Modified Organisms Bill, which regulates the imports and use of GMOs in the country. "Thanks to this bill, Mauritius will be able to use biotechnology to improve its agricultural efficiency, but it will, above all, allow better protection for the consumers, environment and biodiversity", said Paul Raymond Bérenger, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. The opposition, however, was more cautious, pointing to limited scientific and human resources for the bill to be effective.

"Angola's plan to turn away altered food imperils aid," NYT, 30 March 2004; "Angola calls for GMO legislation," PANA, 24 March 2004; "Mauritius' legal framework for GMOs," L'EXPRESS, 30 March 2004; "Mauritian Parliament adopts bill on GMOs," PANA, 24 March 2004

UNEP ENVIRONMENT FORUM HIGHLIGHTS THREATS TO ECOSYSTEM

The eighth Special Session of the UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GCSS-8/GMEF) was held from 29-31 March in Jeju, Republic of Korea. Delegations including Environment Ministers came from 158 nations to discuss "Water and Sanitation". South Korea's Environment Minister Gwak Gyul-ho noted that the meeting was aimed at identifying "[a] specific framework to supply enough water for 10 billion people worldwide suffering from lack of water and provide 25 billion people with upgraded sanitary services". Various issues were raised at the forum, such as threats related to handling solid wastes from industry, households and tourism especially for small islands across the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and the Pacific, lacking landfill space or treatment plants to deal with waste and garbage. "Dead zones" -- oxygen-starved areas of the world's oceans that are devoid of fish, mainly caused by excess nitrogen run-off from farm fertilizers, sewage and industrial pollutants -- was also one of the environmental problems discussed. "Dead zones" is also one of the issues raised in UNEP's first-ever Global Environment Outlook Year Book, being circulated to government officials at the Forum.

On the eve of the meeting, Friends of the Earth (FOE) called for the transformation of the UN Environment Programme into a UN Environment Organisation. FOE emphasised the need for a joint UN review of the impacts of existing trade agreements on sustainable development, together with the establishment of a world commission on trade and agriculture to review impacts of existing trade agreements. According to FOE, the French government, with support from the EU, supports the strengthening of UNEP by turning it into a UN 'specialised agency'.

The discussions form the basis for the 12th meeting of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development to be held in New York from 14-30 April.

ICTSD reporting; "UNEP 2004 in Jeju," DONGA, 29 March 2004; "UN group issues warning on 'dead zones' in oceans," TAIPEI TIMES, 30 March 2004.

MONTREAL PROTOCOL: EXEMPTIONS GRANTED FOR METHYL BROMIDE

The US, several EU member states and other developed country Parties were granted exemptions for the use of methyl bromide -- an ozone damaging substance -- at the Extraordinary Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, held from 24-26 March in Montreal, Canada. Under the Protocol more than 180 signatory states are obligated to phase out the use of nearly 100 ozone depleting chemicals. Developed countries were to phase out methyl bromide, a fumigant that kills soil and food pests, by 1 January 2005. However, at the Extraordinary Meeting eleven states received exemptions totalling 13,438 tonnes for 2005, of which the US was granted almost 9,000 tonnes.

Commenting on the high demand for exemptions Klaus Töpfer, Executive Director of UNEP said "[this] shows that governments and the private sector will have to work much harder to speed up the development and spread of ozone friendly replacements". In order to avoid a watering down of the agreement and to seek a clearer definition of the economic factors used for justifying an exemption Parties launched a process for detailed procedures and reporting requirement for requesting and granting future exemptions. However, US farmers pointed out that the fact that developing countries are scheduled to phase out methyl bromide use only by 2015 might lead to unfair competition. Rodger Wasson, president of the California Strawberry Commission, said, "the 50-acre grower in California may be competing with a multinational corporation based in China who gets to use the product 10 years longer". With such fears temporarily placated, others arose from the environmental standpoint. European Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström stressed that "the scientific consensus is that only full compliance with the Montreal Protocol will allow the ozone layer to regain its full protective power". Under the Protocol, developed countries have committed to taking the lead in phasing out ozone depleting substances. Many environmental groups suggested that effective alternatives to methyl bromide that do not harm the ozone layer exist and can be deployed without great cost.

"13 Countries To Seek Methyl Bromide Exemption," UN WIRE, 24 March 2004; "Eleven Countries Win UN Exemption From Ban On Ozone-depleting Pesticide," TERRA DAILY, 27 March 2004; "Top EU Environment Official Pushes Adherence To Ozone Pact," UN WIRE, 26 March 2004; "Exemptions from Global Methyl Bromide Ban Under Consideration," ENS, 23 March 2004.

APEC CONCERNED OVER EU CHEMICALS LEGISLATION

In a letter dated 11 March, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Secretariat expressed its concerns over the new EU legislation for the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH), which was adopted by the EU in October 2003 (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 3 October 2003). In its letter, the Secretariat states that the implementation of the REACH system would have negative effects particularly on small and medium sized enterprises in developing countries, as these do not have the capacity to comply with the strict deadlines and data requirements. Furthermore, the letter states that "Small and medium enterprises in our region and those economies that depend on commodity exports for their economic growth would be severely affected". The Asian and Pacific countries are furthermore concerned that the EU industry might turn away from non-EU suppliers thus creating unfair competition in favour of their domestic industry. The new legislation was also under discussion during the last meeting of the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) held on 23 March, where countries criticised the system for being more trade restrictive than necessary due to the complexity of the system. Responding to these concerns the EC extended the period for comments until 21 June 2004. The US has already announced that it would issue a statement by 1 June.

"EU Chemical Legislation Deemed Harmful to Developing Economies and Small Business", APEC, 12 March 2004; "Europe's New Chemicals Policy Hits Pacific Rim Resistance", ENS, 24 March, 2004; ICTSD reporting.