US embassy cable - 05ANKARA6775

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 006775 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EUR/SE, EB/EPD, AND EB/TPP/ABT 
DEPT PLEASE PASS USTR FOR JWeiss 
USDA FOR FAS FOR ITP/ LBennett/ELeier 
USDOC FOR DEFALCO 
GENEVA FOR AGR/Schmick 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, EAGR, PGOV, PREL, GR, TU 
SUBJECT: Meeting at Turkish Foreign Trade Regarding WTO Rice 
 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified.  Not for Internet Distribution. 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary.  The Turkish Under Secretariat for 
Foreign Trade has requested the U.S. response for dates in 
Geneva for consultations in connection with the U.S. WTO 
case concerning Turkey's import rice regime as well as data 
regarding the case.   Turkish officials expressed the desire 
to resolve this issue as soon as possible.  End Summary. 
 
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Meeting at Foreign Trade 
------------------------ 
 
2.  (SBU) On November 16, the Turkish Under Secretariat for 
Foreign Trade requested a meeting with Embassy officials to 
discuss the United States request for consultations with the 
government of Turkey (GOT) concerning Turkey's import rice 
regime.  Hasan Yalcin, the Acting Deputy Director General of 
Agreements, led the discussions.  Yalcin expressed the 
desire to resolve the issue as soon as possible and 
hopefully without going to panel. 
 
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Two Requests 
------------ 
 
3.  (SBU) Yalcin initiated the discussions by requesting all 
data related to the case.  AgCounselor explained that his 
request would be sent to Washington, but that, given the 
sensitivity of the case, that the Embassy was not authorized 
to provide any data or discuss any details of the case. 
Yalcin appeared somewhat miffed at this response.   Yalcin 
then requested a response from Washington regarding the 
dates of the meetings in Geneva.  EconOfficer promised to 
contact Washington for a quick response. 
 
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The GOT Tries to Make Its Case 
------------------------------ 
 
4.  (SBU) At this point, Yalcin requested another FTU 
official to provide some information regarding the Turkish 
import regime.  The official explained the development of 
the tariff rate quota (TRQ) and the reduction in duties 
under the quota, which favored paddy rice imports.  At the 
same time, the official noted that imports would not be 
restricted outside the TRQ.  It was noted that Turkey 
imports over 50% of its demand and that the stronger Turkish 
lira had made imports much cheaper.   Interestingly, the 
official noted that Egyptian milled rice imports had 
benefited prior to the implementation of the TRQ and the 
under the current rice regime U.S. paddy rice imports would 
be much more favored.  AgCounselor asked whether it was the 
GOT position that the TRQ was implemented to favor U.S. 
rice.  He responded that we could make that case.  The 
official stated that, in the absence of the TRQ, Egyptian 
rice would be favored over U.S. rice. 
 
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TRQ Not Intended to Impede Trade 
-------------------------------- 
 
5.  (SBU) The same official defended the import regime, 
stating that it was never intended to inhibit trade.  In an 
interesting twist, the official stated that, if Turkey 
wanted to restrict imports, it could always delay the 
process at customs in order to make imports wait longer than 
the current one of two days.  In addition, Turkey could 
limit the ports in which imports could enter. 
 
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Comment:  Let's Make a Deal 
--------------------------- 
 
6.   (SBU) It appeared that Turkish officials would like to 
reach some sort of agreement asap and certainly prior to 
going to panel.  At one point, an official offered that the 
duty under the TRQ might be lowered by another 10% next year 
for paddy rice.  The officials also seemed to focus 
primarily on trade statistics rather than on the legislation 
or domestic purchase requirements.  It seems that they 
believe that the actual TRQ and purchase requirements are 
WTO compliant. 
 
MCELDOWNEY