G 20

The G-20 Ministers, representing 21 developing member countries from different quarters of the globe (Africa, Asia and Latin America), are committed to contribute to a successful Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference and to the effective continuation of the negotiating process thereafter. The negotiating process should continue to be the result of a “bottom up” approach. It should be targeted at substantive and meaningful progress in agriculture during this Conference.

A development round requires the removal of distortions in international agricultural trade rules. The largest structural distortion in international trade occurs in agriculture through the combination of high tariffs, domestic support and export subsidies that protect inefficient farmers in developed countries. Removing these anti-development measures is a core objective of the Doha Round as it will help in reclaiming the development dimension of the DDA and the meaningful integration of developing countries into the global economy. It is for this reason that agriculture is the central issue of the Doha Round. The G-20 has, from the beginning, fought for these objectives and continues to stand united around them and reaches out to other developing country groups that share the same purpose, in particular the LDCs, the African Group, the G-33, the ACPs, the Caricom, the G-90 and the Small, Vulnerable Economies Group.

It was with this in mind that the G-20 was established in August 2003, in the final stages of the preparations for the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the WTO, held in Cancun, in September 2003. Since then it has worked constructively in the negotiations and made positive contributions to the negotiating process by adopting a forward looking attitude and trying to reach ambitious results in agriculture in line with the Doha Mandate. This has transformed the Group into a driving force in these negotiations and put the developing countries - for the first time in the GATT/WTO history - at the center of the decision-making process.

The G-20 constitutes a wide and balanced geographical representation. It accounts for almost 60% of the world’s population, 70% of the world’s rural population and 26% of the world’s agricultural exports. The positions of the Group reflect compromises that emanate from a diversity of interests and are, therefore, in a position to bridge crucial negotiating gaps.

In its effort to break the stalemate in the current phase of the process, the G-20 has presented balanced and middle ground proposals in all areas of the negotiations. These proposals remain on the table and provide a credible appropriate basis for a successful completion of the Round. We must move in agriculture for the other areas to move. The G-20 is prepared to negotiate agriculture here in Hong Kong. We hope that others are prepared to do likewise.

Ministers recall that the G-20 proposals submitted so far in the three pillars reflect proportionality of commitments between developed and developing countries. At the heart of all these proposals is the imperative to ensure substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support through both reductions and disciplines. In addition, these proposals seek the elimination of all forms of export subsidies by 2010, complemented by relevant disciplines. As export subsidies are the most distorting form of support, Ministers in Hong Kong should agree to an immediate standstill on the use of these measures, based on existing commitments. The Group’s proposals also call for substantial improvements in market access, while at the same time securing the necessary policy space through special and differential treatment for developing countries in accordance with the Mandate. The Group is determined to make operational and effective the provisions on special and differential treatment in the Framework, in particular on special products - SPs – and special safeguard mechanism – SSM, so as to safeguard food security, rural development and livelihood concerns of millions of people.

The plight of the African A?cotton producing countries and of other cotton producers in the developing world is evidence of the distortions in agriculture that we are committed to eliminate. The G-20 Ministers emphasize the need for a firm commitment to be made at Hong Kong to address the issue of cotton ambitiously, expeditiously and specifically.

As Agriculture is the engine of the negotiations, the G-20 expects that Ministers in Hong Kong will provide a sound basis for making progress in the negotiations putting the process firmly on track. They should agree to a clear and specific work programme in agriculture for 2006 so as to conclude the Round by the end of that year. For this purpose, modalities will need to be agreed no later than early April and draft schedules based on these submitted no later than 3 months thereafter.

We reaffirm the bottom-up approach as the only feasible way to maintain and further build on the necessary confidence for the negotiations.

Although the expectations for Hong Kong are not those originally envisaged, the G-20 Ministers reiterate the importance of maintaining the level of ambition of the Doha Mandate and the 2004 Framework. This can only be achieved by real commitment and political will on the part of all Members, in particular the major developed ones.