Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 184: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the progress and impact on the agri-sector of the WTO; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7238/05]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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Significant progress was made towards a new WTO trade round with the framework agreement which was concluded in Geneva in August 2004. The main elements of the framework agreement can be summarised as follows: domestic support — a substantial reduction in the levels of trade-distorting domestic support, a ceiling on each WTO member's expenditure on direct payments to farmers under production-limiting programmes — blue box — and a review of payments or subsidies which have no or minimal trade-distorting effect — green box; market access — a substantial improvement in market access for all products through tariff reductions; higher tariffs will be subject to higher cuts, and WTO members may self-select a number of sensitive products for special treatment but all products will be subject to substantial improvements in market access through a combination of tariff cuts and tariff quota commitments; export subsidies — the phasing out in annual instalments by an end date to be agreed of all forms of export subsidies, including export refunds, export credits, with limited exceptions, the trade-distorting practices of state trading enterprises and food aid not in conformity with disciplines to be introduced; special and differential treatment or more favourable terms and conditions for developing countries will be an integral part of all elements of the new round.

The framework agreement protects the benefits to the Irish agri-food sector of the recent reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy and represents a satisfactory outcome for Ireland. The full details of the implementation of the framework agreement are the subject of on-going negotiations in Geneva, leading to a WTO ministerial conference in Hong Kong in December 2005.