Non agricultural market access

Non agricultural market access

Special and differential treatment remains an integral component of all trade negotiations, including agriculture and non agricultural market access.

The modalities of non agricultural market access need to address specific concerns of developing countries relating to preference erosion.

Small and vulnerable economies should be provided greater market access in agriculture and non agricultural market access (NAMA) to enable them to participate meaningfully in the multilateral trading system to mitigate disadvantages caused by the geographical handicap and smallness of their market and economy.

In addition, the system assists farmers to access market information. The system provides agricultural knowledge and techniques on its web based platforms.

Some progress has been made in various areas of the negotiations agriculture, non agricultural market access, services, rules and special and differential treatment.

The post July package WTO negotiations have focused on technical specifics and parameters in the frameworks on agriculture and non agricultural market access.

The main focus of the work of the negotiating group on non agricultural market access has been on the appropriate formula for tariff cuts.

Yet, negotiations under agriculture and non agricultural market access have proved controversial owing to differing interests between preference dependent countries and other competitive exporting countries.

In its resolution 59 221, the General Assembly called for the elaboration of non agricultural market access modalities pursuant to the non agricultural market access framework with a comprehensive product coverage and without a priori exclusions, and recalled the importance of special and differential treatment and less than full reciprocity in reduction commitments for developing countries as an integral part of the modalities.

The Framework Agreement sets out five core areas that include, in addition to agriculture, market access on non agricultural products, services, development issues and trade facilitation.

21. Recognizes the need to address market access for developing countries, including in agriculture, services and non agricultural products, in particular those of interest to developing countries

18. Recognizes the need to address market access for developing countries, including in agriculture, services and non agricultural products, in particular those of interest to developing countries

24. Recognizes the need to address market access for developing countries, including in agriculture, services and non agricultural products, in particular those of interest to developing countries

18. Recognizes also the need to address market access for developing countries, including in agriculture, services and non agricultural products, in particular those of interest to developing countries

Item 4 Market access, market entry and competitiveness

14. Recognizes the need to address market access for developing countries, including in respect of agriculture, services and non agricultural products, in particular those of interest to developing countries

The immediate objective of the negotiations has been to reach agreement by July 2005 on a first approximation of the full modalities on agriculture and non agricultural market access.

The July package provided that the particular concerns of developing countries, including commodities issues, would be taken into account in the context of the negotiations on agriculture and non agricultural market access.

(c) Access to resources, including microcredit, new technologies and agricultural input

With regard to market access for agricultural and non agricultural products, the negotiations should give particular attention to products of special interest to the landlocked developing countries and to the need stated in the São Paolo Consensus to expedite the Doha work programme for small economies.

We need to provide better market access, including access to financial services.

With regard to modalities for negotiations, so far the Negotiation Group on Market Access for Non Agricultural Products (NGMA) has not decided whether or not to include EGs under a possible sectorial tariff approach.

Negotiating Group on Market Access, WTO doc.

The framework agreed in July envisioned the complete elimination of subsidies for agricultural exports, new discipline for export credits, a global commitment to harmonize trade distorting farm subsidies, and improved market access for all products.

The agricultural sector is protected through high tariffs, tariff picks, tariff escalation and non tariff barriers in many developed countries, and market access is often denied to products from developing countries, including landlocked developing countries.

In the same vein, we would like to reiterate our call for the current negotiations of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on market access for agricultural and non agricultural goods to give particular attention to products of special interest to landlocked developing countries, as stipulated in the Almaty Programme of Action.

In the same vein, we would like to renew our call for the current World Trade Organization negotiations on market access for agricultural and non agricultural goods to give particular attention to products of special interest to, or originating from, landlocked developing countries, as stipulated in the Almaty Programme of Action.

Other key market access areas are so called product exclusions (the fact that the distribution of certain products is sometimes excluded from commitments), for example as regards alcohol, tobacco, or pharmaceutical or certain agricultural (raw) products.

Another tool was the Market Access Map, a database on market access barriers, developed to enhance transparency and to support international marketing and trade promotion.

In fact, only one third of agricultural output produced in Africa even reaches the market.

ECX, moreover, can become a trading platform for a pan African market in agricultural commodities.

Natural conditions of plain areas are favourable for sustained agricultural production and contemporary market commerce.

Limited progress has been made in the non agricultural labour market and in political life.

Cuba had taken measures to facilitate SME access to credit, particularly in the agricultural sector.

The current spatial arrangement of agricultural land is unsustainable for the organization of modern market production.

The second module explained how the livestock market works, concepts in micro economy, and the mechanism of market based pricing and management of agricultural properties.

The road map for the Programme focuses on expanding areas under sustainable land and water management, improving market access and infrastructure, increasing food supplies, improving responses to food emergencies, and improving dissemination and adoption of agricultural research and technology.

Fiji thanked its partners for their economic support in the reform of its sugar industry it had initiated programmes to encourage the diversification of agricultural crops, support farmers through loan payment strategies and assist them in gaining market access.

The Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference, to be held in Hong Kong, China, from 13 to 18 December 2005, is expected to take key decisions on agriculture, non agricultural market access, services, development issues and rules aspects of the negotiations.

On agriculture, salient goals included the following a credible end date for the elimination of export subsidies exemption of African countries from reductions in domestic support improved market access for Africa's agricultural products and continuation of SDT for African countries.

This requires that technical work be advanced substantially, most notably the completion of the approximation of full modalities in agriculture and non agricultural market access by the end of July 2005, or shortly thereafter, and in advance of the ministerial conference.

37 Voices from the Field Women's Access to Land and other Natural Resources in Nepal, Women's Resource Access Programme, International Fund for Agricultural Development, 2001.

(i) Supporting remunerative non agricultural employment of rural women, improving working conditions and increasing access to productive resources