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Conflicting Interests? The Norwegian Dilemma in the Agricultural Negotiations in GATT’s Uruguay Round 1986-1994 Astrid Scharning Huitfeldt Dissertation in History Institute of Archaeology, Conservation and Historical studies, IAKH UNIVERSITY OF OSLO Spring 2006 ii Foreword The process of writing this thesis has been long and at time a lonely process. My interests for trade in relation to developing countries have grown during my undergraduate studies. After a conversation with Frode Liland at SUM, the Uruguay Round appeared as an interesting field, where not much earlier research had been done in Norway. After consulting the archive at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs it was clear that I had to limit the theme of my thesis, and the agricultural negotiations became the subject of research. First of all I want to thank my supervisor Helge Ø. Pharo. He has encouraged and inspired me, given me good advises and accepted my delays in the process of writing. I am also grateful for the assistance given by Inga Badi Massoud from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, assisting me at the archive and providing me with a lot of documents and files. Thanks also to Ingrid Næser and Kjersti Andersen who have read my thesis, correcting my English and contributed with useful comments. Lastly, I want to thank Daniel for helping and keeping up with me, especially in the last period of my writings. He has paid at least some attention to my talks about the Uruguay Round. Grünerløkka, April 2006 Astrid S. Huitfeldt iii iv Contents V ABBREVIATIONS IN THE TEXT................................................................................................................................................... IX ABBREVIATIONS IN THE FOOTNOTES....................................................................................................................................... X GLOSSARY ................................................................................................................................................................................... XI CENTRAL NORWEGIAN MINISTERS......................................................................................................................................... XII CHRONOLOGY ........................................................................................................................................................................... XIII INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 Frames for the Thesis and Procedures................................................................................................................ 2 Why is this Important?......................................................................................................................................... 4 Earlier Research.................................................................................................................................................... 5 Archives, Literature and other Sources .............................................................................................................. 6 The Chapters ......................................................................................................................................................... 7 Historical Introduction to GATT......................................................................................................................... 8 The Uruguay Round ........................................................................................................................................... 11 The Developing Countries and GATT .............................................................................................................. 14 Agriculture in GATT.......................................................................................................................................... 16 Norway and the Agricultural Negotiations....................................................................................................... 18 The Norwegian approach to the Negotiations .................................................................................................. 19 The Results of the Negotiations.......................................................................................................................... 21 TOWARDS A NEW ROUND OF NEGOTIATIONS.................................................. 23 A new Round or not?.......................................................................................................................................... 23 Disagreements among the Developing Countries ............................................................................................. 26 Norway and Developing Countries.................................................................................................................... 29 The Establishing of the Preparatory Committee.............................................................................................. 31 Continued North/South Polarisation................................................................................................................. 32 The Norwegian Interests in the Negotiations.................................................................................................... 33 Drafting of the Ministerial Declaration............................................................................................................. 35 The Ministerial Meeting ..................................................................................................................................... 37 v The Norwegian Preparations ............................................................................................................................. 40 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................... 41 FROM THE INITIAL PHASE TO THE MID TERM REVIEW .................................... 43 The Special Challenges in Agriculture.............................................................................................................. 43 The Developing Countries in the Initial Phase ................................................................................................. 44 Different Positions in the Agricultural Negotiations........................................................................................ 46 Common Nordic Proposal .................................................................................................................................. 47 Two Different Perspectives................................................................................................................................. 49 Pressure from Developing Countries................................................................................................................. 51 Prior to the Mid Term Review........................................................................................................................... 53 Mid Term Review................................................................................................................................................ 54 The Results of the Breakdown ........................................................................................................................... 55 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................... 56 BETWEEN TWO FAILED MINISTERIAL MEETINGS............................................. 59 The Norwegian Strategy after Montreal........................................................................................................... 59 Negotiations before the TNC Meeting............................................................................................................... 62 The Storting and the Negotiation Plan.............................................................................................................. 62 End of Mid Term Review ................................................................................................................................... 63 The Nordic Position ............................................................................................................................................ 65 Criticism from the Developing Countries ......................................................................................................... 67 Text from De Zeeuws.......................................................................................................................................... 69 Increased Disagreement in Norway................................................................................................................... 70 The Norwegian Offer.......................................................................................................................................... 72 Norway and the developing countries ............................................................................................................... 73 Before the Ministerial Meeting .......................................................................................................................... 74 The Ministerial Meeting ....................................................................................................................................