WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/GC/W/184
20 May 1999
(99-2055)
General Council Original:  English
PREPARATIONS FOR THE 1999 MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Negotiations on Agriculture
Market Access – General
Communication from Australia
The following communication, dated 18 May 1999, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of Australia.
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1. Australia submitted the Cairns Group Vision Statement in WT/GC/W/156 which sets out the
Group's objectives for the agriculture negotiations.  The following specific proposal is consistent with
that Statement and is presented for consideration in the preparatory process.
Proposal
2. That, as part of the agriculture negotiations, Members agree to a major expansion of market
access opportunities for all basic and processed agricultural products resulting in commercially viable
access on the same conditions as those applying to other goods.
Background3. The Uruguay Round provided a rules-based framework for agricultural trade and took an
important first step in reducing the protection afforded to agricultural products.  Nevertheless,
considerable differences remain between market access conditions applying to the treatment of
agricultural products and those applying to other products.
4. These differences include:  border protection levels for many agricultural products remain
well above those applying to other products;  some non-tariff barriers continue in place, and;  the
current Agreement on Agriculture provides for special safeguards for agricultural products for the
duration of the reform process as determined under Article 20.
5. Substantial cuts to protection levels for agricultural products at all levels of the processing
chain must result from the next agricultural negotiations in order for agricultural trade to proceed onthe basis of market forces.  Such negotiations will need to consider all aspects of market access
notably tariffs, tariff peaks, tariff escalation, tari ff rate quota (TRQ) volumes, in-quota tariffs (while
recognizing that tariff quotas will become redundant as protection levels fall) and the rules applying to
market access commitments.  Such an approach is required in order to meet the objectives of
establishing a fair and market-oriented agriculture trading system and of correcting and preventingdistortions in world agriculture markets.
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