Description
As
WTO Members seek to establish disciplines on food aid in the Doha
Round, they have had to strike a difficult balance between addressing
the effects of such aid on local producers and the needs of hungry
consumers in developing countries. At the Hong Kong Ministerial
Conference, Members reconfirmed their commitment to maintain an
adequate level, and to take into account the interests of food
aid recipient countries. While there is consensus on the need
for a “safe box” for bona fide food aid, Members have also agreed
to ensure elimination of commercial displacement, and to agree
effective disciplines on in-kind food aid, monetization and re-exports
“so that there can be no loop-hole for continuing export subsidization”.
While the chair’s draft text seeks to steer a course between these
various challenges, the question of the monetisation of food aid
still remains unresolved.
Dr
Edward Clay, a Senior Research Associate with the Overseas Development
Institute in London, has studied the implications of the chair’s
draft text, and the extent to which it would be an effective tool
in promoting development objectives. At this meeting, he will
present some of the findings of his research, and discuss with
negotiators some of the implications of the drafted language,
focussing particularly on the outstanding issue of monetisation.
