Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 301: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food her views on a submission (details supplied); her plans to address the submission in regard to the WTO talks; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5948/05]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The negotiations on the new WTO round are taking place under the mandate, known as the Doha Development Agenda, agreed at the WTO ministerial conference in Doha in November 2001. This mandate provides that special and differential treatment for developing countries will be an integral element of all aspects of the agriculture negotiations. Significant progress was made towards concluding a new round with the framework agreement agreed in Geneva in August 2004. The framework agreement recognises the critical importance of agriculture to the economic development of developing countries and the need to allow them to pursue agricultural policies that are supportive of their development goals, poverty reduction strategies, food security and livelihood concerns. The framework agreement sets out, in broad outline, the terms of special and differential treatment which will apply to developing countries in the form of longer implementation periods and less demanding commitments than will apply to developed countries. Negotiations on details are continuing with a view to reaching a conclusion at the WTO ministerial conference in Hong Kong in December 2005. I fully support the approach to assisting developing countries outlined in the Doha Development Agenda and the framework agreement.