G 20

It is for me a privilege to welcome you to Sao Paulo. Let me say at the outset that Brazil is honored and I myself am very pleased to host for the second time a Ministerial Meeting of the G-20. The Brasilia meeting of the G-20 was the starting point of the resumption of the negotiations after Cancun. Since then, our Group has acquired an even more pivotal role in the negotiations. The importance and constructiveness of our actions are now recognized by all.

We meet again at a crucial moment, as we enter the final phase of the negotiations on a framework text for agriculture. There are some indications of more positive convergences. Let us pursue them. We remain fully committed to the Doha mandate. Much, however, remains to be done and it is essential that we put forward a coherent and credible strategy in order to ensure a successful outcome.

The level of ambition of the Doha mandate remains the guiding principle of the negotiations. Any credible framework must be consistent with the Doha Mandate, and must enable the establishment of modalities capable of ensuring that negotiations in agriculture will indeed result in substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support, substantial increase in market access, phasing-out with a view to elimination of all forms of export subsidies and operational and effective special and differential treatment.

We have come a long way since we first presented our common platform last August. Since then, the G-20 has consolidated its position, which is engaging in and benefiting from a fruitful dialogue with other groups, in particular with fellow developing countries and LDCs.

There are two main reasons for that.

The first is the legitimacy of the G-20, which comprises a large number of developing countries with a wide range of views and a major share of the world"s rural population.

The second reason is the Group"s ability to translate its members` interests in credible and coherent common negotiating proposals. The platform of the Group is totally in line with the broad objectives of the Doha Round, which has development as its most important component.

This willingness to overcome differences and to effectively contribute to the negotiations has been consistently demonstrated by the G-20. The G-20"s original proposal, presented in the lead-up to Cancun, remains a guideline for the discussions on the three pillars of the negotiations. Since then, however, we have been engaging in comprehensive internal technical work and intensive consultations with other members. This process has allowed us to explore a large range of alternatives and further develop our common positions on the three pillars of the negotiation.

The result of our work took concrete form in the critique of the so-called "blended formula". Subsequently, it was translated in the G-20 proposal on market access, probably the most intricate pillar in the negotiations. Our proposal has demonstrated to WTO Members the fatal flaws of the so-called blended approach, as proposed in the Cancun text. It has led to increased awareness about some outstanding issues that were hid in the discussion. It has also provided for a more constructive approach in the negotiations of a framework text, by concentrating on the key objectives and elements that should serve as the basis for the choice of a tariff-reduction formula.

Our work contributed to putting the discussions on the right track, in the direction set forth by the Doha Mandate, which calls for substantial improvements in market access with effective and operational special and differential treatment in order to address our development needs. The G-20 should now continue to explore the possibilities contained in our proposals and in our discussions with other partners.

On the domestic support and export competition pillars, we have also been working hard with a view to incorporating in a framework document a clear outline capable of providing predictability and accountability from developed members. In those two pillars, we find the most outrageous policies, the most glaring distortions in international trade in agricultural products. We are all developing countries and we all suffer from the distortions caused by the lavish subsidies granted by developed countries.

We must strive to ensure that the language to be agreed in the framework will lead to the complete phase-out by a credible end-date of all forms of export subsidies, while ensuring that export credits, commercial displacement through food aid operations and STE operations will be dealt with in an equivalent manner.

In domestic support, the central objective is to reduce substantially all trade-distorting domestic support. On the blue box, we must be reassured that any new disciplines or criteria will ensure the reduction of the trade distorting nature of this instrument, so as to comply with the Doha Mandate. We must also have a clear understanding of the departure points for AMS, Blue Box and de minimis reduction commitments. The objective is to achieve real reductions in each of those areas, as well as in the sum of their respective amounts.

The Green box must also be subject to precise definitions. We must be assured that the Green box label is not misappropriated. Increased transparency and stricter disciplines are therefore essential.

The Agreement on Agriculture is currently the agreement with the most extensive S&D provisions in the WTO. But it is S&D in reverse, S&D for the developed countries, which continue to benefit from derogations that distort markets and harm developing countries. We must change that. We must bring to an end these privileges. We must guarantee effective and operational special and differential treatment provisions directed to the rural development and livelihood needs of developing countries.

This Group has become a central feature of the foreign policies of each of our countries. We are all proud of what we have achieved. Our work has only started. Many possibilities are now open for us.

Let us take advantage of this meeting to have a constructive discussion and refine our understanding on the central issues of this negotiation. Let us build on our achievements so far and make sure that this positive momentum will be maintained.

São Paulo, 12 June, 2004