The European Commission is currently undertaking a partial interim review of the anti-dumping measures applicable to imports of potassium chloride originating in Belarus and Russia. This product is used as a fertiliser and is an essential nutrient for food production, but prices have doubled since the measures were last reviewed. The main three European producers all have global business interests and two are subsidiaries of the same non-EU parent company which has stated that it is one of the market’s lowest-cost potassium chloride producers.
In the light of the statements made by the Community industries’ parent companies, and with regard to the doubling of potassium fertiliser prices since the last review and the additional high input prices that agricultural businesses across Europe are faced with at the moment, will the Commission give greater regard to the wider Community interest for a competitive food production industry able to source fertiliser nutrients from the most efficient world producers? Has the Commission actively contacted the representative organisations of EU agricultural businesses to assess the impact of anti-dumping duties and higher fertiliser costs?

GENEVA: Lawmakers from around the world doubt a meaningful global trade agreement will be struck this year and fear the rapid growth of self-serving side deals could kill it off completely. Their frustrations come as the latest push to improve a draft global deal text by Easter drew a blank in agriculture discussions, and as a months-old initiative by the European Union to help flood-hit Pakistan hit the buffers.

Delegates at the annual World Trade Organisation (WTO) parliamentary conference in Geneva lauded the concept of free trade, saying the existing structure held back protectionism during the 2008 financial crisis. But although these members of national parliaments mostly lack direct influence on the talks themselves, those who would bet against completion of the decade-old Doha round by the WTO’s end-2011 target were easy to find.

“I hope it happens, but realistically speaking I don’t think it will conclude this year,” said Se Hwan Jang, an opposition Democratic Party member of South Korea’s national assembly. “It’s very hard for all 153 member countries to reach a consensus …. (and) the proliferation of bilateral and regional trade pacts will undermine the process.”

Bilateral and regional agreements have boomed since the Doha talks stalled in 2008.

Governments have found themselves jostling for position as the balance of trading power shifts to high-growth countries like China and Brazil, and as tariffs and other barriers to free trade grow into the void left by the failing global talks. Multilateral trade deals are designed to benefit all parties, but in bilateral and regional deals, weaker countries tend to get a rougher deal, or simply get excluded, and the proliferation of these pacts is seen as escalating protectionism.

“If it all (Doha) takes so long we have little choice,” said a delegate from Costa Rica, which has bilateral pacts with the United States, EU and China.

South Korea and the EU say a bilateral deal they hope to strike this year should be a building block for a global one, not a hindrance to it, but a host of others are seen as detrimental to the spirit of global trade.

“Do we have to choose? (between bilateral/regional deals and a multilateral one). No. But there is a growing number of shallow regional trade agreements that risk increasing discrimination or diverting trade between regions,” said Ditte Juul-Joergensen, acting director of WTO Affairs at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Trade.

WTO director-general Pascal Lamy warned recently that the pace of talks has been too slow to reach that year-end deadline. Negotiators battling to rescue the talks now want to produce a working text by Easter — a deadline now just a month away and already put back from the end of March. But David Walker, chairman of the pivotal Doha agriculture talks, told negotiators on March 18 their 10 days of talks had ended without progress, according to delegates. Those discussions are due to restart in early April, and the agriculture text is said to be in better shape than other parts of the draft package. Nevertheless, the WTO is worried.

“Bluntly put, there’s a need for urgent acceleration of work at all levels,” Yonov Frederick Agah, Nigeria’s ambassador to the WTO told the conference.

Agah, recently appointed to chair the WTO’s crucial dispute-solving body, said work so far “lacks the substantive breakthroughs,” needed at this stage.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Agah would not be drawn on whether turmoil in the Arab world and the devastating earthquake in Japan will further slow the Doha process in any direct way. But one delegate said the failure of the WTO to react effectively to world events was part of its problem.
This week the EU suffered its latest failure to push through a tariff waiver to help Pakistan recover from last year’s devastating floods. In a plan that dates back to October, it wants to suspend tariffs on goods covering about a quarter of Pakistan exports to the EU.

But according to a source in a March 21 meeting, the vote, which has to be unanimous, was held up by countries that compete with Pakistan.

“If the WTO cannot agree on a waiver for Pakistan or countries affected by natural disasters, then I believe it has little chance of progressing on Doha,” said Robert Sturdy, a European Member of Parliament from Britain who backed the plan.
“It destroys the respectability of the whole Doha process”.

Fellow speakers included former Suffolk Coastal MP John Gummer, now Lord Deben, Prof Ian Crute, chief scientist at the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board, farmer Lucy Wyatt, and Waitrose’s agricultural manager, Duncan Sinclair.

A report of the conference in the East Anglian Daily Times quoted Robert as stating that the economic crisis had left us with “a new reality”.

Robert set the scene by describing our “limited and costly” natural resources, land shortages and funding pressures on research and development, but said there were still those who did not believe climate change was a reality.

Rising food prices had played a part in the uprising in north Africa, and many of the developing nations were getting richer and starting to demand western dies, including more meat. Robert said this would need to be done using less land, less water and less fertiliser.

But he said a myriad of trade restrictions made it hard to get food where it needed to be. In Africa, he added, there was the problem of food from fields rotting because of lack of infrastructure. And consumers had the right to know where food came from, and food imported into Britain should meet our standards. He supported research and development to help increase yields.

Regarding Common Agricultural Policy reforms, Robert said he believed it would be wrong to impost a cap on the size of the farm to receive a subsidy.

This is a report from Farmers Guardian:

FARMERS in the UK could boost their exports to South Korea after the EU ratified a trade deal, expected to double trade over the next 20 years.

The deal will eliminate 99 per cent of import tarriffs on imported goods and will see a boost in trade of manufactured goods and agricultural products, according to the European Parliament.

It will also see the removal of a 20 per cent import tarriff on whisky into South Korea, leading to hopes of a boost in whisky sales, & therefore increased demand for malting barley.

The parliament backed the agreement by 465 votes to 128, with 19 abstentions.

After the vote, Robert Sturdy, MEP, European Conservatives and Reformists group’s trade spokesman in the parliament, said: “This is a monumental deal for the EU and for Korea. Not just for the deal itself, but also as it is the first – and definitely not the last – of its kind.

“The EU is sending a clear signal to the world that we are open for international trade, particularly with emerging economies. I hope that the message will go forward to other countries, like India, and build momentum towards other bilateral trade deals.

“We should not give up on a multilateral trade deal through the WTO; but in the meantime we should seek as much trade liberalisation as possible bilaterally.

“In this time of economic difficulty we should never lose sight of the fact that open trade leads to cheaper goods, more and better jobs, and greater competitiveness. More trade is the ultimate answer to our problems and this deal will play an important part in our recovery.”

It was intended to present the facts regarding these vital talks and highlight the costs and benefits, as well as explaining what this this much needed agreement will mean for the future role of bilateral FTAs.

Robert, Vice-Chair of the INTA Committee, and Rapporteur on the EU-Korea FTA, was joined on the panel by chair, Roderick Abbott, former Deputy Director General of DG Trade and the WTO; Fredrik Erixon, Director of ECIPE (European Centre for International; and Political Economy); and Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, Director, ECIPE.

Robert said he was delighted that the frank discuss resulted in an improved understanding about the complex issues it involved. There were 100 attendees delegates ranging from industry stakeholder representing cars, chemical, legal firms, and the spirits industry, as well as academics, Ambassadors representing countries from around the world, World Bank, agricultural associations, SME associations, press, consultancies, MEPs and EP staff.
 
Robert said: “Trade is at the heart of the EU and the world economies. With global trends indicating a shift from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the EU must change its trade policy to account for this new, more connected world, capitilising on all the opportunities Asia’s rise has to offer. It is no coincidence that those EU countries which export the most are the most competitive and are recovering quickest from the financial crisis. Europe’s new approach to bilateral deals, complementary to the Doha Round, will drive Europe’s recovering to strengthen and to grow.”

Pic courtesy of David Plas.

Strasbourg, 17th February 2011 — A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) passed by Euro-MPs today, steered through the parliament by Robert Sturdy MEP, will bring untold benefits to industries across the EU economy and to consumers.

The FTA will see Korean tariffs cut by €850 million immediately when the deal comes into effect in July 2011, rising to €1.6 billion over five years. It will bring a saving of €40 million for EU spirits producers, and almost completely liberalise trade in agricultural products into Korea, saving EU agricultural exporters €380 million. Chemical exporters will save €175 million in duties, EU exporters of machineries would save €450 million, whilst the elimination of most duties on the textiles and clothing sector will amount to savings of €60 million. EU pharmaceutical and medical devices exporters benefit from both strengthened transparency in pricing decisions, and duty elimination- saving around €50 million in duties alone.

The services sector (inducing financial services, telecoms and environmental services) could expect to see a 70% rise in trade volume. Non-tariff barriers to trade will be broken down, and the FTA includes specific provisions on electronics, motor vehicles and vehicle parts.

Under the Lisbon Treaty, all international trade deals must be granted assent by the parliament. The deal also includes a safeguard clause which would enable the EU to reintroduce Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to areas where it is felt liberalisation was causing serious injury to EU industry.

The parliament backed the agreement by 465 votes to 128, with 19 abstentions.

After the vote, Mr Sturdy, who is the European Conservatives and Reformists group’s trade spokesman in the parliament, said:

“This is a monumental deal for the EU and for Korea. Not just for the deal itself, but also as it is the first - and definitely not the last - of its kind.

“The EU is sending a clear signal to the world that we are open for international trade, particularly with emerging economies. I hope that the message will go forward to other countries, like India, and build momentum towards other bilateral trade deals.

“We should not give up on a multilateral trade deal through the WTO; but in the meantime we should seek as much trade liberalisation as possible bilaterally.

“In this time of economic difficulty we should never lose sight of the fact that open trade leads to cheaper goods, more and better jobs, and greater competitiveness. More trade is the ultimate answer to our problems and this deal will play an important part in our recovery.”

“With the safeguard clause built in, this deal is very good news for European industry. We have opened our markets to cheaper products that will benefit consumers and Korea has opened its markets to our exporters who will benefit from significant extra demand.”

Eastern Region MEP Robert Sturdy has renewed calls to abolish the European Parliament sitting in Strasbourg following research which concluded that 70% of MEPs want to end their enforced visits there.

Robert has vigorously campaigned for 17 years against the present system of travelling from Brussels to France at least a dozen times a year to vote on legislation.

A report called “A Tale of Two Cities” said it cost an extra £150 million annually and resulted in an extra 19,000 tonnes of CO2 a year caused by road and air travel: using one seat instead of continuing the current travelling circus would also save UK taxpayers £28 million a year.

Robert and fellow Conservative MEPs have consistently called for the Strasbourg sittings to be scrapped.

He said: “This latest study supports what Conservatives have long believed, that this travelling circus is very unpopular by the majority of MEPs and should be scrapped to save us millions of pounds, our time and carbon emissions.  It’s a disgraceful waste on all counts and cannot be justified any longer. It is totally unacceptable and it should be acted on now following this report.

“While the Strasbourg seat was once a very positive symbol in reuniting France and Germany, it has now become a negative symbol of wasting money and bureaucracy and should cease being used.

“I find it hard to understand how the European Labour leader in Brussels, Martin Schultz, could dismiss the report as a ‘waste of time’, and I would like to challenge our local Labour MEP Richard Howitt to say if he shares his leader’s views too.”

Last year Robert signed a cross-party letter urging the President of the European Union to end the Strasbourg sittings, and vowed he would never give up campaigning on this issue.

Ends

Note to Editors:
1. Note to editors: the report can be found here:

http://www.brusselsstrasbourgstudy.eu/

PARIS — Sealing and oilsands, two issues that have darkened Canada’s image in some sectors of European society, could affect ratification of the proposed Canada-European Union free trade agreement, suggests a report from the House of Commons parliamentary committee on trade.

The report, based on a fact-finding mission to Europe in November, recommends that the Canadian government and Parliament step up efforts to lobby the 736-seat legislature that now has veto power over EU trade agreements.

The MPs heard complaints on matters that had nothing to do with the proposed Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), such as Canada’s seal hunt and the imposition of visa requirements on citizens visiting Canada from a small number of EU countries.

“The committee heard that Canada must develop a better communications strategy on sensitive issues like the seal hunt and the visa requirement for nationals of certain European countries,” the all-party committee said in the report tabled Wednesday.

“Although these irritants are not part of the CETA negotiating agenda, they could affect ratification of any future agreement.”

The European Parliament, which holds sessions in Brussels, Belgium and Strasbourg, France, gained veto powers over trade deals in the Lisbon Treaty that took effect in 2009.

Canada is hoping to announce later this year an agreement-in-principle that would slash tariff and non-tariff barriers that affect trade and investment.

Some members of the European parliament (MEPs) who met with the Canadian committee in Strasbourg “expressed the hope that the CETA would encourage responsible extraction and use of these raw materials, and said that both parties should be required to guarantee a high level of environmental protection,” the report noted.

“Other European parliamentarians said they are confident that Canada will do just that, considering the evolution in extraction methods, which are today more efficient and more respectful of the environment than in the past.”

A separate opinion by New Democrat MP Peter Julian said European parliamentarians feared that CETA would lead to increased oilsands production and would therefore “worsen its devastating impact on the environment.”

Robert Sturdy, a veteran British Conservative MEP and vice-chairman of the European Parliament Committee on International Trade, said Thursday that Canada has been the target of environmentalists, animal rights activists and their parliamentary allies since he was elected in 1994.

First it was clear-cut logging and animal trapping, then it was the seal hunt before the European Parliament banned seal product imports in 2009, and now it’s Alberta’s so-called “dirty” oilsands sector, he said.

“Whether it will stop the vote, I certainly hope it doesn’t, but we don’t know yet, until we start with an agreement and start discussing it fully and working on it. Then we’ll get a better idea.”

Conservative MP Gerald Keddy, parliamentary secretary to Canadian Trade Minister Peter Van Loan and a member of the committee that visited Europe, said he doesn’t share the view of other MPs who fear environmental or animal rights issues could interfere with ratification.

But he said Ottawa has to put greater effort into lobbying the European members.

“We can’t ignore them,” Keddy told Postmedia. “We have to understand and recognize that there are important differences between the EU and Canada, but that doesn’t mean we can’t sign a complementary agreement that benefits both countries.”

The European Parliament will have its final vote on the EU-Korea free trade deal, which is the first to be ratified since the Lisbon Treaty.

“The experience of ratifying Korea has shown that any given bilateral issue, small or large, could become an issue for debate, often based on thin facts and fearmongering,” said Brussels-based trade analyst Hosuk Lee-Makiyama.

“However, the MEPs are less subject to populist sentiments than some may have feared. There is a solid majority of conservatives, liberals and social democrats who by far outnumber the nuts on the fringes.”

© Copyright (c) Postmedia News

A parliament spokesman has admitted that “weak points” in the assembly’s security set-up may have led to last Friday’s armed robbery.

Two men, one of them armed, held up the post office in parliament and reportedly got away with at least €8000.

Police have started an investigation into what is said to be the third major breach of security in two years.

A senior parliamentary source told this website on Tuesday the authorities were trying to plug “weak spots” in the building’s security that he said may have contributed to the latest raid.

He said all staff, including MEPs, had this week been reminded of the measures they had to respect in order to gain access to the building.

If a security guard is not able to recognise an MEP he will have the right to see his or her parliamentary badge.

The source said a full-scale reconstruction of the raid had taken place and revealed that the two culprits were caught on closed circuit TV cameras close to the post office.

The police investigation is ongoing but the images, he said, may be used to aid prosecution.

He said, “The reconstruction has helped us identify a few weak spots.”

He said parliament’s bureau, comprising parliament’s president Jerzy Buzek and vice presidents will meet in Strasbourg to discuss how they can beef up security in parliament.

Parliament officials say it is “clear” that whoever was responsible “knew the parliament pretty well,” raising the possibility that the culprits had an accomplice working in the assembly.

His comments come after UK Tory MEP Robert Sturdy called for parliament’s current security company to be sacked.

He said, “There is clearly a serious problem here and we are calling for a change.”

On Tuesday, security at some entrances to parliament was intensified with admission to the Henri Spaak entrance closed altogether.

Describing the break in as “unbelievable” Sturdy said, “Given the security that exists, I do not understand how someone with a gun can get in parliament.”

Sturdy added, “Security has been too lax for some time and I have to say that what is being done now is too little too late.”

He also called for “tighter” controls on visitor groups in parliament saying that many of the 300,000 visitors to the assembly create “havoc.”

However, he said any restrictions should not extend to journalists or lobbyists who have “legitimate” business in parliament.

He said, “That would be cutting the throat of parliament.”

Meanwhile, a security guard in parliament says the authorities are “victimising” his staff in the wake of the robbery.

He did not wish to be named, but the Flemish guard said, “It is always the security staff and cleaners who are the number one suspects. We are sick of it because we do our best.

“The word is that it was an ‘inside job’ and, contrary to what has been said, had nothing to do with security staff.”

*Update. The European Parliament’s security services are once again under fire following accusations of “over zealous” security for a hearing on the Mafia. You can read this updated story here.

The European Parliament’s international trade committee gave its backing today to the EU’s free-trade agreement with South Korea.

The committee endorsed a recommendation to approve the accord with 21 votes for, four against and no abstentions. The recommendation, drafted by UK centre-right MEP Robert Sturdy, will be voted on during the Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg on 17 February.

Mr Sturdy said today that he expected “strong” backing for the accord at the full plenary vote.

“The EU needs to send a clear signal, now more than ever, that it is open for business,” said Mr Sturdy. “The swift adoption of this agreement will send out a positive signal that we are not reverting to protectionism in response to the economic environment.”

The committee’s approval of the free-trade agreement comes after months of negotiations between MEPs and member states over a safeguard clause which will be attached to the agreement.

MEPs said they would only approve the overall agreement if they secured a tougher safeguard clause to protect European industries from unfair competition. European carmakers have expressed fears that imports of cheap Korean cars could flood the EU market under the deal.

The committee had also postponed a vote on the accord to check new legislation being introduced by the South Korean government that will set tougher emissions and fuel efficiency standards for cars sold in the country.

A spokesman for Green MEPs said, however, that the EU could still have an opt-out from the regulation. This would mean that cars from the EU sold in South Korea would not have to adhere to the tougher standards. He said the Green group would vote against the accord next week.

The Parliament will vote on both the accord as well as the safeguard clause in Strasbourg.

A compromise deal on the clause, which took three months to negotiate between MEPs and member states, was reached in December.

The Parliament, as well as industry, will have the right under the clause to ask the European Commission to launch an investigation into whether imports are harming EU industries. The inquiry could lead to safeguard measures being imposed on imports from South Korea.
 
MEPs also won a commitment that the Commission would look into amending the safeguard clause to incorporate any additional elements that might be found in the implementation measures for a US-South Korea trade deal, which has also been concluded, but not yet ratified.

The trade deal, which was agreed between the EU and South Korea in October 2009, aims to eliminate 98% of import duties and other trade barriers between the EU and South Korea. It will take effect on 1 July this year if given final approval by MEPs and the South Korean parliament.