[CTC] McKalip: IPEF agriculture chapter ‘really close’

[Arthur Stamoulis]

McKalip: IPEF agriculture chapter ‘really close’
Inside US Trade, September 15, 2023 at 1:53 PM
 
Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity negotiators are “really close” to finalizing the agreement’s agriculture chapter, a “key part” of the trade pillar, Chief Agricultural Negotiator Doug McKalip said this week.
 
During a Sept. 14 discussion at the International Fresh Produce Association’s Washington Conference, McKalip,  a deputy U.S. Trade Representative, said “Our team is in Thailand right now – and there have been five rounds of negotiation. They were able to get an agriculture chapter that is really close.”
 
“We're driving hard to get an agriculture chapter completed by November,” he added.
 
During a fourth round of IPEF negotiations in South Korea earlier this summer, members reiterated that November’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ summit in San Francisco was serving as an informal deadline for agreements on the clean economy, fair economy and trade pillars. Negotiations on the supply chain pillar were “substantially concluded” in May.
 
The fifth round of talks is slated to end in Bangkok on Sept. 16. Negotiators are expected to meet for a sixth round of negotiations in Malysia in October, though the location and timing have not been officially announced.
 
In a statement issued earlier this week, South Korea’s Ministry of Trade Industry and Energy said, “long hours of negotiations, as well as participating countries’ willingness to exercise flexibility, are paying off in shaping and reaching the final agreement.”
 
Inside U.S. Trade recently reported that a source familiar with the negotiations said the trade pillar was “generally further behind” IPEF’s other pillars, with the agriculture chapter, among others, posing challenges. The source cited disagreement over approaches to genetically modified products as a sticking point.
 
McKalip told reporters after his remarks on Thursday that the ag chapter would include “a lot of the transparency and certainty issues on regulation – using science is a key part of that.” He added that sustainability in agriculture also would be key to the chapter.
 
In June, McKalip said IPEF would pay “tremendous dividends” for U.S. agricultural producers and urged the industry to help ensure the framework succeeded. He also reiterated the administration's hope that IPEF’s sustainability language would not lead trading partners to erect “trade barriers in the name of sustainability.”
 
During Thursday’s discussion, which also featured Alexis Taylor, under secretary of Agriculture for trade and foreign agricultural affairs, and Mark Powers, president of the Northwest Horticultural Council and a member of USDA’s agricultural technical advisory committee for trade in fruits and vegetables, McKalip stressed the importance of improved regulatory certainty and consistency in approaches across member states.
 
“One of the things I maybe was surprised [by] over the last six months was how often we've got boats on the water heading somewhere and there is a problem likely facing that boat when it gets to port over a [sanitary and phytosanitary] issue, over a lapsed license, you name it, that will eventually keep that ship from being successful,” he said.
 
“We take for granted our system. We've got a Federal Register where we publish requirements. We put the risk assessments out there for everyone to read,” McKalip added, saying IPEF would get “everyone to agree that we're going to take public comment, that we're going to do a Federal Register-type approach to import requirements, get everybody to a common level of consistency.” -- Oliver Ward (oward at iwpnews.com <mailto:oward at iwpnews.com>)

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




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