*EPF112 02/24/2003
Text: U.S. Programs Help Build Poor Countries' Trade Capacities
(Official outlines efforts at international agriculture meeting) (1880)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is providing a range of services to help developing countries increase their capacity to take part in the world trade system, a USDA official told an international agricultural meeting in Washington.

"If the United States' agricultural community is to achieve success in the global trade negotiating process, our government must engage the developing world in the creation of appropriate trading rules and guidelines, and of transparent, efficient, science-based food and agricultural regulatory systems," said the official, Suzanne Heinen, deputy administrator for international cooperation and development.

USDA is helping poor countries increase their understanding of World Trade Organization (WTO) agricultural agreements and strengthen their biotechnology regulations, Heinen said.

The department works with other agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), State Department and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) to implement the programs, she said. Her remarks were made February 21 at USDA's annual Agricultural Outlook Forum in Virginia.

Helping countries strengthen their trade institutions and food safety systems are other focuses of the Agriculture Department's capacity-building activities, Heinen said. Other training activities focus on food product packaging, display and promotion, she added.

Heinen's division of USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) is helping representatives of the 34 IICA member countries attend WTO meetings on sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) issues. It also has conducted seminars throughout sub-Saharan Africa on WTO agricultural and SPS agreements and on the importance of developing countries' participation in the Codex Alimentarius, Heinen said. Codex was established by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) to develop food standards and guidelines.

Through its Cochran Fellowship program, the International Cooperation and Development [ICD] Division of FAS in 2002 provided short-term, targeted training to nearly 1,000 agricultural participants from more than 70 countries, Heinen said. Another ICD program offers a short course in biotechnology -- with an emphasis on biotechnology's relationship to market access and trade -- to researchers, policymakers, educators, representatives of nongovernmental organizations and journalists, she said. The training begun in 2002 is intended "to help foreign leaders play informed and guiding roles regarding biotechnology in their home countries," she said.

(Note: In the following text, "billion" equals 1,000 million.)

Following is the text of Heinen's prepared remarks:

(begin text)

LESSONS LEARNED FROM U.S. GOVERNMENT TRADE CAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAMS

Suzanne Heinen
Deputy Administrator for International Cooperation and Development
Foreign Agricultural Service [FAS]

The U.S. Government has made clear the best way to re-ignite an era of global economic growth and reduce poverty is through a world trading system that is dramatically more open and free. We have learned from experience that countries that are part of the World Trade Organization and actively engage in trade show faster growth and economic prosperity.

Developing countries stand to be among the world's biggest beneficiaries from participating in global agricultural policy reform. Potential gains include a 25-percent increase in developing country exports, a 20-percent increase in imports, a 12-percent increase in world commodity prices, a $21 billion gain in developing country economic welfare, and a 6-percent decline in food aid needs as domestic production expands in response to higher world prices.

USDA's Role in Trade Capacity Building [TCB]

USDA remains committed to helping countries build their capacity to trade. Building countries' capacity to trade not only benefits the country as it becomes more able to enter the global trading system, but benefits the U.S. also, as more and more countries obtain the income to purchase U.S. products. As [FAS] Administrator [Ellen] Terpstra mentioned, USDA remains committed to the Doha development agenda [WTO negotiations]. We also remain staunchly committed to reducing hunger by fifty percent by the year 2015, a goal the U.S. pledged to support at the World Food Summit.

But we cannot be all things to all countries. We have limited time and resources, and we have to focus on the most pressing. We also have to focus on what we do best. In developing our TCB strategy, we will generally not pursue activities that require physical infrastructure upgrades. USDA has neither the financial resources nor the personnel to tackle issues that require major physical improvements. This role is better served by the multilateral development banks. Our focus needs to be on strengthening countries' human capacity for trade -- ensuring that their public and private sector officials have the tools to understand international agreements, prepare business plans, develop and enforce regulations. Another focus also must be on strengthening systems, particularly in the area of sanitary and phytosanitary and food safety issues. These non-tariff trade issues are becoming the greatest obstacles to trade. The establishment of such policies and regulatory systems that are science- and law-based, institutional, transparent and consistent with international standards will broaden market access and permit open markets in safe food products to function.

We have also learned that we cannot work in all countries of the world. We have thus decided that, where possible, to tackle regions where we think we may have the greatest impact. Few single countries will likely become a noteworthy market for the U.S., but emerging regions certainly can be. Thus, it is in our interest to stimulate those countries into thinking regionally, and work together to harmonize regulations and standards.

Types of Agriculture-Related Trade Capacity Building Activities

USDA provides an array of programs that assist with trade capacity building in developing countries. We develop our programs in close collaboration with other U.S. Government agencies working on trade capacity building, such as USAID, the Department of State and USTR.

Our activities fall into four basic categories:

1. Increasing Understanding of WTO Agriculture-Related Agreements;

2. Strengthening Public Sector Agriculture Trade-Related Regulatory Institutions and Frameworks;

3. Strengthening Science-Based, Market-Oriented Biotechnology Regulations and Policies; and

4. Enhancing Trade Competitiveness of Farms and Agricultural Firms.

Increasing Understanding of WTO Agriculture-Related Agreements

A familiar request from developing countries is for assistance in meeting the legal and technical requirements of WTO agriculture-related agreements. To meet this need we have been working with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in supporting attendance at WTO/SPS committee meetings by select representatives of trade and regulatory agencies of the 34 IICA member countries. All 34 IICA member countries sent representatives to WTO/SPS meetings held in Geneva in November 2002. USDA will also support their participation in WTO meetings scheduled for April and June 2003. Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, FAS conducted a series of seminars in conjunction with USAID that covered issues such as the rights and obligations of the WTO Agricultural and SPS Agreements and the importance of developing countries' participation in international standards setting bodies such as Codex Alimentarius. In both instances, we have focused on increasing awareness of agreements and regulations, and in doing so, been able to establish relationships with evelopcountries that we may not have reached otherwise.

Strengthening Public Sector Agriculture Trade-Related Regulatory Institutions and Frameworks

The program in Africa also led directly to another critical area for USDA TCB -- strengthening global sanitary and phytosanitary systems for food and agricultural products works. The seminars helped African countries to identify and articulate where they needed assistance to strenghthen their individual systems and concrete programs in risk analysis.

USDA, collaborating with USAID's Regional Center for Southern Africa, helped develop a Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary/Food Safety Annex to the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Trade Protocol. Because of the success of this activity, USDA is now placing an advisor on a long-term basis in Gabarone, Botswana, to work closely with countries in the region to continue pest risk assessments for agricultural plant products potentially destined for markets in the United States.

Improving Global Understanding and Acceptance of Agricultural Biotechnology

Through workshops and study visits, USDA helps facilitate a participatory process to develop and adopt appropriate science-based biotechnology laws and regulations involving scientists, executive and legislative policymakers, producers and agribusinesses. These workshops have involved researchers, policymakers, consumers, educators, non-governmental organizations and journalists and are aimed at familiarizing participants with issues related to biotechnology. A notable example of USDA biotechnology training is a biotechnology short course initiated in 2002 (and to be repeated periodically) that will help over 100 foreign leaders play informed and guiding roles regarding biotechnology in their home countries. The course gives special attention to biotechnology's relationship to market access and trade in agricultural products.

Enhancing Trade Competitiveness of Farms and Agricultural Firms

Countries need to improve productivity to compete in the world market. Our programs, especially in transition countries, have assisted farmers and agribusinesses in improving market information and business and financial decision-making. Training in grades and standards have enhanced the marketability of products in eastern Europe. Other activities in Central America and Vietnam have focused training on techniques to improve market competitiveness and enhance sales in local retail stores through one-on-one training in the latest display, packaging, safe handling and promotional techniques, especially for value-added and perishable products. Improved retail efficiency is beneficial to sales of both imported U.S. and locally-produced foods.

USDA Services

Just a word on how the various programs are developed in USDA. The International Cooperation and Development [ICD] Division of FAS is the lead coordinating point for USDA international technical assistance. But we draw on all agencies in USDA to get the job done.

USDA has very limited direct funding for activities:

-- The most widely known is the Cochran Fellowship program which has proved to be a highly popular and successful source for short term targeted training. In 2002, we trained nearly 1000 Fellows from over 70 countries.

-- We also have limited ($1.2 million) funds for scientific exchanges and collaborative research.

-- FAS has the Emerging Markets Funds, but ICD submits proposals just like everyone else to access these funds -- thus we must target our efforts towards where we feel we have a unique advantage, projects that are governmental in nature or that are perhaps not quite ready for the private sector.

We have also developed a long-term relationship with USAID whereby we:

1) Provide USDA technical experts to work with USAID; and

2) Submit proposals for specific directed projects.

As we focus on our strengths, we hope to move towards more projects where we identify the need and can identify resources to support our projects. In some cases our attaches overseas have identified projects with their agricultural contacts and found financial support from their colleagues in USAID or other agencies. We can also work with other groups as partners in consortiums that have a component that is best served by a governmental representative.

Conclusion

If the United States agricultural community is to achieve success in the global trade negotiating process, our government must engage the developing world in the creation of appropriate trading rules and guidelines and of transparent, efficient, science-based food and agricultural product regulatory systems and efficient marketing systems. This will take time, but it will be worth the investment. These countries represent our future growth markets.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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