G 20

Agriculture lies at the center of the Doha Round. It is the engine of the negotiations. It is mainly in agriculture that developing countries enjoy sizeable comparative advantages.

The G-20 is a grouping of developing countries devoted to putting an end to trade distorting policies and promoting trade liberalization in agriculture. At the same time, G-20 members share a firm commitment to special and differential treatment to developing Members to preserve their food and livelihood security and fully take into account rural development needs.

We are at a crucial moment in the Doha Round. A month from the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference, we face huge gaps in negotiating positions. More disturbingly, signs of movement on the part of developed countries – main responsible for trade distortions and protection - have been scarce and insufficient.

The G-20 has presented proposals in all three pillars of the agricultural negotiations. They conform strictly to the Doha Mandate and the July Framework and represent a genuine middle ground. They remain on the table.

The October 28th proposal by the European Union falls short of responding to the G-20 proposals. It provides for only marginal improvement in market access. In order to be meaningful, the average cut for developed countries should be, at least, 54% as proposed by the G-20.

In Domestic Support, we similarly see that the U.S. proposal falls short of responding to G-20 proposals. There must be real cuts in all forms of trade-distorting domestic support and effective new disciplines.

In Export Competition the credible end date is still missing in the proposals presented so far. The G-20 has proposed that all forms of export subsidies should be eliminated no later than 2010.

Furthermore, developed members proposals have not incorporated adequately Special and Differential Treatment for developing countries. The G-20 reaffirms that S&D is an integral part of all areas of the negotiation. In particular, SPs and SSM must be addressed with a view to a successful outcome in Hong Kong. It is also essential to obtain concrete results on cotton in the context of the VI Ministerial Conference, and address issues related to LDCs and RAMs.

Additional movement in agriculture, in line with the Doha mandate and the July Framework, would find a response in terms of proportionate contributions in other areas of the negotiations. Reaffirming that agriculture remains the main focus of the G-20, the Group considers it contrary to the Doha Mandate to expect that linkages with other negotiating fronts could lead to unbalanced results for developing countries in the negotiations.

The challenge faced by all Members in the short time left up to Hong Kong is to work with realistic expectations without lowering the level of ambition of the Round. The G-20 is ready to face this challenge and urges all partners to do the same.