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Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Mar26/02) Geneva, 2 Mar (D. Ravi Kanth) –The “Draft Declaration on Agriculture, Trade and Food Security” issued by the chair of the Doha agriculture negotiations at the World Trade Organization on 27 February for the upcoming WTO’s 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) has seemingly buried 25 years of the invaluable agriculture talks, said people familiar with the development. With just about three weeks left to go until MC14, which takes place in Yaounde, Cameroon, from 26 to 29 March, growing embitterment is being expressed by developing countries that their core issues, especially in agriculture, are being nearly eclipsed by the WTO reform issues meant to appease “the most systemic violator of the global rules”, said a former chair of the WTO’s General Council (GC) from Africa, who is following the preparations for MC14. The chair of the Doha agriculture negotiations, Ambassador Ali Sarfraz Hussain of Pakistan, has seemingly ignored the two mandated issues – the permanent solution for public stockholding (PSH) programs for food security in developing countries and the special safeguard mechanism (SSM) – from the WTO’s 10th ministerial conference (MC10) held in Nairobi, Kenya in December 2015. The draft text also fails to mention what happened to the agriculture negotiations over the past 25 years, and who wrecked the negotiations – i.e. the United States – at each ministerial conference since 2008, the former GC chair said. The chair of the Doha agriculture negotiations, held in the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session (CoA- SS), presented the draft declaration that is largely based on the controversial Jamaican proposal, with a few elements drawn from the Argentinian and Indonesian proposals, despite intense opposition from the African Group and India, said participants who took part in the meeting. BREAKOUT SESSIONS Ambassador Hussain indicated that several countries have proposed detailed breakout sessions on agriculture on par with what is being proposed by the WTO’s Director-General, Ms. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, for the WTO reform issues. In her schedule of meetings for MC14, the DG appointed five minister-facilitators for the reform issues while she accorded “step-motherly” treatment to agriculture with only one plenary session, said a participant who asked not to be quoted. During the brief agriculture meeting on 27 February, there were sharp divergences between the United States, the European Union, and the Group of 10 farm-defensive countries led by Switzerland, on the one side, and the African Group and India on the other, said participants who asked not to be quoted. DRAFT DECLARATION In the introductory note attached to the draft declaration, the chair wrote: “As announced at the CoA-SS meeting earlier today [27 February], please find a draft ministerial text for your consideration.” “This draft attempts to bring together elements from Members’ proposals [largely from the Jamaican proposal] and draws on my consultations with Members and the views expressed at CoA-SS meetings,” the chair said. Echoing the Jamaican proposal, which laid excessive importance on food security, the chair said that: “The draft acknowledges the need to enhance food security and underscores the importance of reinvigorating the agriculture negotiations post-MC14. It reaffirms the objective of establishing a fair and market-oriented agricultural trading system.” He added: “While the text may not fully meet the expectations of all Members, there is a need for realism, considering the significant divergences in Members’ positions on key negotiating issues, and the limited time remaining before the official opening of the Fourteenth Ministerial Conference in Yaounde on 26 March 2026.” Ambassador Hussain informed members that he intends “to hold consultations on the draft ministerial text next week in various configurations. Invitations will be circulated in due course. As announced in my communication ICN/AG/TN/33, dated 27 February, I plan to convene a transparency session on Friday, 6 March, to report back on these consultations.” In an apparent challenge to the DG, who has organized breakout sessions on WTO reforms for MC14, the chair indicated that “in addition, following the suggestions by some Members, I will also be seeking Members’ views on how best to organize the ministerial session on agriculture during the allocated time slot at the Ministerial Conference.” The draft declaration cites seemingly pedestrian objectives such as: “The long-term objective of establishing a fair and market-oriented agricultural trading system and of providing for substantial progressive reductions in agricultural support and protection.” It affirms that “special and differential treatment for developing country Members is an integral part of the negotiations.” It recognizes “the urgent need to strengthen global food security, particularly for developing country Members, including least developed countries and net food-importing developing countries.” It notes “the heightened vulnerabilities of farmers, particularly smallholder farmers, and rural communities, which threaten livelihoods and food security and have been exacerbated by extreme weather events and recent global crises, including pandemics and conflicts, requiring urgent, balanced, and development-oriented responses.” It also notes “with concern the limited progress achieved to date on several negotiating issues and acknowledging the significant divergences [from the Argentinian proposal] on negotiating approaches and on possible outcomes across areas of the negotiations, and the need to address the existing stalemate in the negotiations.” The preamble is a sharp reminder of how the past mandates stemming from the Doha negotiations, as well as the commitment to finalize the permanent solution for PSH and the SSM at MC10, are seemingly being buried in one go, lamented a former General Council chair from an African country. The operational part of the draft declaration for MC14, which is yet to be ironed out in the negotiations starting on 3 March, includes the following: A. “Commits to engaging constructively and transparently to establish a fair and market-oriented agricultural trading system and to deliver outcomes that, inter alia, strengthen global food security” [directly from the Jamaican proposal, which according to one South American trade envoy, was formulated to take on board the interests of the US and the G10 countries]. B. “Commits to continuing the agriculture negotiations pursuant to the reform process set out in Article 20 of the Agreement on Agriculture, and subsequent Ministerial Decisions and Declarations” [relaunching negotiations as proposed by Argentina and mentioning subsequent Ministerial Decisions and Declarations to placate Indonesian concerns]. C. “Reaffirms that the negotiations shall continue to take place in the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session (CoA-SS) and its Dedicated Sessions, based on discussions among Members, including their existing and future contributions and submissions.” D. “Requests the CoA-SS chair [with the launch of negotiations, it is required to elect a new chair, going by the existing Doha trade negotiations ministerial mandate], working with Members, to promptly establish a calendar of meetings after this Conference and set milestones, as appropriate” [an element from the Indonesian proposal]. E. “Requests senior officials to meet periodically after MC14 to review progress and provide political guidance, as needed.” F. “Invites Members to continue supporting the negotiations and efforts to enhance food security, including through technical assistance and capacity-building initiatives for developing country Members with support from relevant international organizations.” DIVERGENCES During the meeting, members expressed sharply divergent views. The US trade envoy, who was present at the meeting, said that there are still divergences among members. After Argentina presented its proposal seeking a “relaunch” of the negotiations, there were sharp reactions from members. The most important point raised by several members is on the lack of understanding of what a “relaunch” would imply when the Doha trade negotiations were launched primarily to address the issue of agriculture, which was considered “the engine” of the negotiations, said participants who asked not to be quoted. Several members questioned the Argentinian proposal, suggesting that a “relaunch” of the negotiations would imply clearing the existing slate of negotiations that had taken place over the past 25 years, an African participant said. To call for a “relaunch” of the negotiations as per Article 20 of the Agreement on Agriculture would be tantamount to “selective amnesia” of the negotiations conducted under the Doha Work Programme that includes cotton and the SSM as well, said another participant. Several African members, along with India, drew attention to the unfinished issues of PSH and the SSM. The African Group issued the strongest statement at the meeting, setting out its priorities, said people familiar with the development. Among the Cairns Group of farm-exporting countries, Brazil said if members continue to accept divergences in the negotiations, then they must be addressed at the outset, and a timeline for identifying and addressing the divergences must be established, said people familiar with the development. +
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