In Brief

AG TRADE MAY WORSEN DESERTIFICATION, EXPERTS SAY

Joint efforts by national agricultural and environmental departments are necessary to address the impacts of agricultural trade on desertification and poverty, according to a report released by Unisfera on 6 May. The report, entitled "From Boom To Dust? Agricultural Trade Liberalisation, Poverty, And Desertification In Rural Drylands: The Role Of UNCCD", analyses the impact of the Doha Round of trade negotiations on agriculture, land degradation and poverty in the context of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The report argues that although liberalisation may increase rural income and thereby enhance food security, it can also lead to increased vulnerability of small-scale developing country farmers. Agricultural trade affects desertification, the report says, through the intensification of production that often goes hand in hand with increased international trade. It argues that such intensification can also lead to the replacement of small-scale agriculture by intensive industrial monocultures with adverse effects on rural livelihoods. Whereas the change from subsistence to cash crops can increase incomes, it also enhances the competition for land and water and may force small-scale farmers either off their land or to employ unsustainable practices such as logging which in turn may lead to desertification. In order to counter these possible harmful effects, the report calls for targeted joint programmes involving environmental and agricultural expertise. National action programmes should be adapted to include concrete measures reflecting the challenges and opportunities generated by liberalisation of the agricultural sector. The report was presented at a side event of the third session of the UNCCD's Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC-3).

WIPO SEMINAR LOOKS AT BIODIVERSITY AND TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE

The relationship between intellectual property rights (IPRs), biodiversity and traditional knowledge (TK) -- and the role of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in enhancing this relationship -- were discussed by representatives from governments, civil society and the private sector at a session on biodiversity and TK, co-organised by WIPO as part of the International Seminar on Intellectual Property and Development from 2-3 May. The need to fully involve holders of TK in the process of shaping IP regimes, for WIPO to assume a more development-oriented strategy, and for greater cooperation between WIPO and other UN agencies were suggested as ways for WIPO to support traditional knowledge. Graham Dutfield of the University of London suggested that WIPO's concern with financial incentives as a means to encourage innovation was less applicable to TK holders because their knowledge was not translatable into market values. He stressed that "any legal system of protection of traditional knowledge must accommodate the 'holistic nature' of traditional knowledge", alluding to traditional systems of IP protection that need to be recognised by the international community. Participants focused largely on traditional knowledge while recognising that its protection would aid in the conservation of biodiversity. Hamdallah Zedan, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), said there should be better integration amongst the international organisations working on intellectual property and development, pointing to repeated rejection of requests from the CBD for observer status at the Council for Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) as indicative of the resistance of international organisations to incorporate biodiversity concerns as a core value.

The session was one of six topics discussed at the International Seminar, co-organised by WIPO, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the WTO. The Seminar was part of a set of initiatives to move forward the discussions on a 'development agenda' in WIPO, initiated by the last WIPO General Assembly in response to a September 2004 proposal by fourteen developing countries for the 'Establishment of a Development Agenda for WIPO' (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 8 October 2004).

ICTSD reporting.

WTO FOOD AID DISCIPLINES COULD INCREASE HUNGER, WARNS UN

In a speech to developing country WTO delegates, UN World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director James Morris on 9 May warned that improperly drafted rules on food aid could contribute to hunger in the world's poorest countries. The WFP was "absolutely opposed" to limiting food aid to cash, he said, a proposal that had been put forward during WTO agricultural liberalisation negotiations on 13-18 April by the ECU, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and Thailand. In negotiations mandated by the WTO July Package on food aid that causes "commercial displacement", these countries argued that food aid should be largely restricted to cash grants to prevent it from being used as a channel for disposing of agricultural surpluses generated from subsidised production. Instead, new disciplines would require purchases to be made locally or in the region where the aid is to be given in order to avoid hurting local production. While the EC says that these disciplines would halt US exports of surplus subsidised products in the guise of bilateral aid programmes, the US counters that EU agricultural subsidies are the real problem. The cash grant proposal is supported by some recipient countries such as Uganda, which have seen poor farmers displaced from local markets by subsidised agricultural surpluses that entered the country as food aid. Morris, however, said that judgements on the legitimacy of food aid should be based on what it is used for, such as for emergencies or for vulnerable groups, and not the source of the aid. "The simple truth is that food aid commitments and deliveries are nose-diving while WTO is discussing their disciplines", he noted.

"WFP Chief Urges WTO To Support Food Aid In Doha Round," WFP PRESS RELEASE, 9 May 2005; "Move by WTO 'is threat to food aid,'" FT, 9 May 2005; "UN Comments On WTO Food Aid Controls," AP, 9 May 2005; "UN raises eyebrows as WTO farm talks," ECONOMIC TIMES, 10 May 2005.

PARIS MINI-MINISTERIAL REVIVES OPTIMISM ABOUT WTO NEGOTIATIONS

Shortly after WTO Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi warned WTO Members attending a 'mini-ministerial' gathering in Paris on 4 May that negotiations to liberalise trade were behind schedule, a breakthrough compromise was reached on agricultural talks at the Paris meeting. The WTO negotiations had been held up for several weeks due to divisions over 'ad valorem equivalent' (AVE) conversion, which had stalled agricultural liberalisation talks. AVE conversion sets out a process to change agricultural tariffs charged on a per-unit quantitative basis into tariffs applied as a percentage of the price of the product. The G-10 countries together with the EU had disagreed with agriculture exporters such as the US on how to determine prices for such products, but were able to reach a compromise using two different import price databases. Despite the agriculture breakthrough, participants at the Paris gathering agreed that a great deal remained to be done before July, when Members had hoped to have some draft wording available as 'first approximations' of a trade liberalisation deal that Members may then flesh out and adopt at the WTO's Sixth Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong in December. Increased work, they suggested, was needed in agriculture as well as other areas such as non-agricultural market access for industrial tariff reduction, and services (see BRIDGES Weekly, 11 May 2005).

ICTSD reporting; "WTO ministers reach agreement on tariffs issue," AFP, 4 May 2005; "Key WTO Members Clinch Deal on Ag Tariff Conversions, Avoiding Setback to Doha Talks," WTO REPORTER, 5 May 2005; "Progress at last," THE ECONOMIST, 5 May 2005.

FAO STUDY SURVEYS BIOTECH IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

A new study released on 6 May by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on the status of research and application of crop biotechnologies in developing countries shows that while several developing countries have well-developed biotech research and development programs, there are several gaps that prevent developing countries from using the technology to its full advantage. The study on Status of Research and Application of Crop Biotechnologies in Developing Countries: A preliminary Assessment, which is based on the FAO's extensive database of biotechnology research in developing countries (the FAO-BioDeC), finds that while non-agricultural biotechnology is used widely in developing countries in the form of biopesticides, biofertilizers, fermentation, tissue culture and crop disease diagnostic techniques. Genetically modified (GMO) crops, however, are unevenly distributed geographically and are less popular in Africa, Eastern Europe and the Near East.

Many of the GM crops that have been field-tested and/or commercialised in developing countries are from developed countries and focus on just a few traits (such as herbicide tolerance or insect pest resistance) and a few crops (such as maize, cotton and soybean). The study argues that biotech products that meet the needs of developing countries, such as through addressing the problem of drought or post-harvest losses of crops, are essential. It points to research in developing countries on other crops, such as banana, cassava, cowpea, plantain, rice and sorghum, and on traits relevant for food security, such as food quality and ability to resist non-living threats called "abiotic stresses" such as droughts and low soil fertility. The presence of national legal frameworks on biosafety and appropriate models for intellectual property rights for access to GM technology are seen as essential to ensure that developing countries reap the benefits of biotechnology.