Agnieszka Hajdukiewicz

Agricultural issues are among the most difficult topics in the negotiations of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the European Union and the United States. The purpose of the article was to identify the scale and scope of differences of opinions on the major issues of the negotiations related to agriculture and to try to assess the possibility of reaching a compromise that takes into account both the existing constraints and potential benefits. Research results, based on the study of literature and analysis of source documents, revealed significant differences in approaches especially in matters of food safety and protection of geographical indications. A compromise is therefore very difficult to obtain, despite the considerable potential benefits resulting from the increase in bilateral trade. It seems that it would be relatively easy to determine the issues of tariff reductions on agricultural and food products, whereas a compromise with regard to non-tariff measures, in particular certain sanitary and phytosanitary barriers, would be the most difficult to reach.

The multilateral trade negotiations, based on a broad Doha Development Agenda, failed to bring concrete results despite more than a decade of talks. To break the deadlock, country members decided to limit the scope of negotiating issues to be discussed during the 9th and 10th Ministerial Conferences on Bali and in Nairobi. The new, more selective approach resulted in the adoption of small packages of decisions, known as the „Bali Package” and the „Nairobi Package”. This article aims to analyse the decisions included in these packages, which are related to agriculture. It also attempts to evaluate their importance for the process of agricultural trade liberalisation in the WTO. The study, based on the analysis of literature, legal WTO texts and statistical data from the database WITS-Comtrade, showed that the new approach led to the adoption of several significant, legally binding commitments in the areas of agriculture, out of which the highest value has the commitment to eliminate agricultural export subsidies. Although the talks did not address many controversial issues, the gradual expansion of the scope of negotiations may contribute to the successful conclusion of the Doha Round of the WTO.