UAE-WTO: Accord to help boost agriculture

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Att.Editors: The following item is by the United Arab Emirates news agency (WAM)

ABU DHABI, May 21 2003 (IPS) - A two-day workshop generating awareness on the World Trade Organization (WTO) and agriculture agreement as well as negotiations in this field, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Gulf countries, was inaugurated in Dubai yesterday.

The workshop is organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in cooperation with United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and is being attended by local government department officials including Economic Department, local Municipalities, Customs, Chambers of Commerce and agriculture departments located in various emirates, according to a report in the ‘Khaleej Times’.

Rashid Khalfan Al Sharqi, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, opened the workshop briefing the participants on the WTO agreement, particularly in the UAE’s agriculture sector and highlighted the policies and negotiations under review, to be incorporated in conformity with the agreement before December 2004.

Al Sharqi stated that the UAE joined the WTO agriculture agreement in 1996 and participated in the ministerial negotiation meeting held in Doha in 2001. "Several countries have submitted their proposals suggesting the policies to be implemented in their respective countries adhering to the agreement. The UAE is also preparing to submit its proposal in the field of agriculture trade and products and we are meeting here today to discuss and receive suggestions from the various local departments," Al Sharqi pointed out.

The Under-Secretary commented that the UAE with its open trade policy and low custom tariffs will stand to benefit under the WTO agreement, provided the customs fee is also reduced by other countries in the region and around the globe. "It will have a positive impact on our export and agriculture in the UAE, especially if we comply with the international standard of the products and the health conditions." He said the Ministry has been organizing training course for its employees in the field of WTO and agriculture agreement and has invited a number of local authorities to participate in this workshop to spread awareness about the agreement and its affect.

Topics in focus during the two-day workshop included agriculture and food in UAE, agriculture policies and the possibility of sustainable development, agricultural agreement of Uruguay meeting, review of WTO’s agriculture agreements, the component of agriculture agreement and countries’ obligations, its implementations, review of the current agriculture negotiation and proposals, and the plant health agreements.

Majed Zakaria, a consultant on WTO at the Ministry, highlighted the benefits to be derived by the UAE in the agriculture sector upon the implementation of the WTO agreement.