The World Trade Organization rounds on agriculture: prospects for animal productions in the European Union[Les négociations agricoles multilatérales des cycles de l’Uruguay et de Doha : bilan et perspectives pour les productions animales européennes]

The Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture applied over the six-year period from July 1995 to June2001. It included commitments to increase market access, reduce subsidised exports and diminish trade distorting domestic support. In a general way, the agreement was not really constraining for the various animal productions in the European Union. It however forced the European Union to decrease subsidised exports for poultry, pork and some dairy products. Onthe other hand, it also forced the European Union todevelop unsubsidised exports for the same products.The final outcome of the Doha Round is still very uncertain.An agricultural agreement along the same lines as the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture wouldnot be a threat to the various European animal sectors. However, too large increases of tariff rate quotaswould put additional pressure on market equilibriums within the European Union. In the same way, the European Union should not face any problems on the domestic support dossier if the single payment per farm introduced by the Common Agricultural Policy reform of June 2003 is included in the green box. Such a classification is more than likely if the definition of the green box is not challenged in the Doha Round. However, several countries ask for a revision of the green box definition and/or argue that all domestic support should be reduced even if it is currently consideredas green. Several internal factors would alsoinfluence animal production patterns in the European Union over the next decade. These factors include foodquality and security, environment protection, rural development or animal welfare. These factors are mainly considered as constraints. They can however also be differentiation vectors for European animal products.