The Uruguay Round and FAO technical assistance

FAO is experienced in providing its members with technical assistance concerning a wide range of WTO-related issues. The Organization's assistance in trade issues dates back to well before the Marrakesh Agreement, and requests have intensified since the Agreement was signed in 1994.

In the area of agricultural and food policy, developing countries are vitally concerned with the implications of the Agreement on Agriculture. Increasingly, FAO is being asked for assistance in capacity building for agricultural policy analysis concerning trade issues. More detailed advice is sought about specific policies, analytical methodologies and ways in which policies might be implemented so that countries can take advantage of trade opportunities and make necessary adjustments to domestic food and agricultural policies. Some FAO members that are not members of WTO have been assisted in policy preparation before formal entry negotiations have taken place.

The obligations of WTO members associated with the SPS and TBT Agreements have resulted in a significant upturn in requests for FAO technical assistance. The adoption by the SPS of Codex Alimentarius standards, guidelines and recommendations as benchmark standards for the international food trade has created a burgeoning interest among developed and developing countries in Codex activities and associated food control matters.

There is a particular interest in strengthening national food control systems, reformulating national food regulations to bring them into conformity with international standards and establishing import/export food inspection and certification programmes to ensure compliance with SPS and TBT requirements.

Training is being sought in relation to SPS and TBT requirements associated with food safety issues, including risk analysis, inspection techniques, analytical methods and food laboratory management. There has also been a growing demand for the capacity of national veterinary services to be strengthened in the field of quantitative import risk analysis techniques. This is a direct response to the SPS Agreement, which stipulates that protective measures must be based on the assessed risk to human, animal or plant health.

To facilitate trade in the context of the SPS, member countries are also seeking FAO's assistance in strengthening their meat import and export inspection programmes. Similarly, in the area of plant protection, assistance has been sought in strengthening and updating the national quarantine programmes of member countries to enable them to meet the demands of plant quarantine developments relating to international trade.

In the area of forestry, FAO provides assistance and support related to technical forestry issues of relevance to the obligations of WTO members under a number of Uruguay Round agreements. Work includes strengthening trade and identifying the consequences of changes in trade restrictions. Long-term outlook studies are conducted to guide policy development, and assessments are made of the implications of trade policies for forest management and vice versa. FAO advises governments on appropriate forest policies both through normative and field project assistance. In particular, by supporting national forest programme processes, it assists many countries in developing appropriate and effective sectoral policies.

Further, FAO assists in capacity building in a wide range of areas that have linkages with forestry trade and, therefore, with the Uruguay Round Agreements. It has helped in the development of country staff through its training courses on production, consumption and trade statistics collection and usage, aimed at improving countries' own capabilities in these areas, and it has provided member countries with legal advice in the drafting of forest policies, covering aspects of significance to trade development.

In fisheries, FAO's assistance activities for developing countries have intensified considerably over the last five to seven years, mainly because of the increasing importance of international trade in fishery products and as a result of the strict new sanitary rules imposed by major importing countries. The form of assistance that is most necessary and most often requested is the training of government and industry personnel in inspection and quality assurance of fish and fishery products, including those from aquaculture. The strengthening of national fish inspection systems is also an area where assistance is being sought.

With regard to TRIPS, FAO's technical expertise relates to intellectual property rights in respect of plant varieties, animal breeds, related technology and germplasm. The TRIPS Agreement requires all WTO members to provide plant varietal protection (PVP) either by patents, a sui generis system or a mixture of both. International concern about this matter is increasing rapidly, and many developing countries are seeking technical assistance from FAO with regard to the establishment and implementation of a PVP mechanism. The Organization is also providing technical assistance relating to plant breeding, including forest trees, seed and propagating material production, the safe movement of germplasm, associated legislation, regulations and systems.

FAO's work in the fields of legal advice and legislative drafting undertaken in collaboration with national authorities includes the review and analysis of current statutory instruments governing intellectual property protection and seed production, and the elaboration of draft acts and regulations as well as amendments to existing legislation, including laws governing food control and trade in agricultural, forest and fishery products.

There has been an increase in the number of developing country members of WTO, and several more are in the process of joining. In view of the resultant openness of developing countries' economies, which makes them more dependent on trade developments, there is a growing need to understand the forces that influence such developments. However, most developing countries, especially the least-developed, have neither the capacity nor the resources to face the challenges or take advantage of the opportunities flowing from the Uruguay Round while also preparing themselves for the next round of multilateral trade negotiations. Therefore, arrangements will be necessary to ensure that they receive technical assistance to enable them to prepare adequately for the negotiations ahead.