By Berta Gomez
Washington File Staff Writer

New York City -- An agriculture task force convened by the World Economic Forum (WEF) is pushing governments to aim for agriculture liberalization as a centerpiece of the trade talks launched at the November 2001 World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Doha, Qatar.

The task force, initiated during the 2001 WEF meetings, includes executives from major corporations such as Coca-Cola, Nestle, Monsanto, Unilever and General Mills, along with representatives of the World Bank, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, the WTO, the International Food Policy Research Institute and other major organizations.

"There was a remarkable coalition" forming around the view that removing barriers to agricultural trade could be one of the most effective means of reducing global poverty, Unilever chairman Niall FitzGerald told reporters February 4 as the five-day WEF forum in New York drew to a close.

He pointed to a recent World Bank report estimating that the elimination of all forms of agriculture protection globally would result in a total income gain of nearly $250,000 million by 2015. He said about $150,000 million would accrue to low- to middle-income countries, and the remaining $100,000 million to the developed world. "The win-win is there, if we have the courage grab it," FitzGerald said.

Task force recommendations include the elimination of export subsidies, export credits and direct payments, as well as market access restrictions such as tariff escalation and peak tariffs. "In moving to a trade system which is eventually more open, fair and equitable, countries must translate the good intentions expressed at Doha into reality," the task force said.

It also called for a "substantial increase" in public- and private-sector investment to promote capacity-building in developing countries. Investment goals should be to improve food production and processing technologies, education and training, and infrastructure development.

"Trade is a means to an end, not an end in itself, and putting an end to hunger and poverty is perhaps the greatest challenge of the 21st century," the task force said in a communique. "Trade reform which furthers this goal is both possible and of the utmost priority."

Agricultural trade was high on the agenda of government ministers who met during the WEF under the auspices of the Informal Group of World Economic Leaders (IGWEL). Canadian Finance Minister Paul Martin told reporters February 3 that IGWEL participants "emphasized the important contribution that liberalizing trade and access to markets can make for developing countries, and gave particular focus to the pernicious impact of agricultural subsidies."

"Subsidies to farmers in rich countries are about five times the total provided in international assistance," Martin said. "This is just plain bad policy if we are serious about enhancing growth in developing countries. It is self-defeating."

Sounding a note of caution was WTO Director-General Designate Supachai Panitchpakdi, who warned that the European Union (EU) is unlikely to undertake agricultural reforms unless it believes it can gain substantially on trade, environment, investment and competition rules.

Supachai noted that while most non-EU countries want agriculture to be the top WTO priority for market opening, the EU is not expected to finalize its review on agriculture reforms until 2006 -- a year after the Doha talks are scheduled for completion.

FitzGerald said he hoped other European firms would follow the example of Unilever, which intends to put "intense" pressure on European governments, particularly in France, to break down their resistance to phasing out agricultural subsidies.

The WEF gathering was convened in New York City under the theme "Leadership in Fragile Times: A Vision for a Shared Future." Traditionally held in Davos, Switzerland, the WEF moved to New York as a signal of support for the city following the attacks of 11 September.

Participants in the January 31 to February 4 meetings have included more than 2,700 world leaders from business, government, academia, religion, the media and civil society.