27 October - Statement to UN General Assembly Second Committee - Australian Permanent Mission to the United Nations

Australian Permanent Mission to the United Nations

New York

Permanent Mission address: 150 East 42 Street, Level 33, New York, New York 10017 - Telephone: 1 212 351 6600 - Fax: 1 212 351 6610

UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY: SECOND COMMITTEE
20 October 2011

International trade and development

Statement by Mr Kelvin Thomson MP
Representative of the Parliament of Australia on behalf of the Cairns Group of Agricultural Trading Countries

Mr Chairman

I have the honour today to speak on behalf of the Cairns Group of 19 agricultural exporting countries, namely, Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand and Uruguay.

The 36th Ministerial Meeting of the Cairns Group was held from 7-9 September 2011 in Saskatoon, Canada. At this meeting, Ministers discussed the international trade policy environment, including the Doha Round agriculture negotiations, our shared desire to continue agricultural trade policy reform efforts, the development dimension to agriculture reform and food security.

Cairns Group Ministers acknowledged that sufficient progress had not been made to conclude negotiations by the end of 2011. Ministers expressed their strong disappointment that it had not been possible to bridge the remaining gaps in the negotiations, including in agriculture, despite intensified work this year. The Ministers stated the following:

As Cairns Group Ministers, we share a strong concern about the current state of the Doha Round negotiations. We cannot ignore that after ten years an agreement still remains elusive. The agriculture negotiations have taken us far in terms of addressing distortions. However given the current challenges, we must engage in a frank discussion to develop a clear and realistic path forward to advance the needed reform and secure a fair, market-oriented and predictable trading environment, in accordance with the Doha Development mandate, including special and differential treatment. In doing so, we must also take into account that agriculture remains central to the negotiations, given its importance for the development needs of developing countries.

Mr Chairman

As a unique coalition of both developed and developing countries, Cairns Group Members remain determined to secure genuine agricultural trade reform, which is of such fundamental importance to both development and food security. Our Minister’s noted:

The FAO estimates that the global population will increase to 9 billion by 2050 and as a consequence agricultural production will need to increase by 70 per cent, while facing emerging challenges such as climate change. As a collection of developed and developing country food exporters, the Cairns Group has a unique role to play in helping to meet these objectives. We fully support the central role of the FAO in the global governance of food security. There is a need to find new, innovative and sustainable means, including through the use of technologies, of increasing production capacities and improving access to food by reducing poverty and enhancing income distribution. As agricultural producers, the Cairns Group acknowledges that food security globally is a complex and multifaceted issue. We have pursued reforms through the Doha agriculture negotiations so vigorously because, amongst other things, we recognise that trade policy reform has a role to play in addressing food security. Furthermore, we recognise that trade policy reform is essential to the food security and poverty alleviation objectives of the Doha Development mandate.

Open, fair and well-functioning domestic and international markets spur investment, and create new opportunities for growth in output and improvements in farmers’ income. Furthermore, we recognize that policies that distort production and trade in agricultural products can impede the achievement of long term food security. We consider our work under the WTO Agreements, particularly the Agreement on Agriculture, the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS), as well as the work of the international standard–setting bodies and the delivery of an outcome in the context of the Doha Development Round, can make a contribution to the issue of food security.

Mr Chairman

The Cairns Group considers that trade policy reform has a role to play in addressing food security that is why the group has so vigorously pursued reforms, such as the elimination of all forms of export subsidies and reductions in trade-distorting agricultural support, and pursuit of greater market access through reductions in tariffs through the Doha Round of agriculture negotiations.

Open, fair and functioning domestic and international markets encourage investment and create new opportunities for growth in production. Trade should continue to play a role as an engine for economic growth.

In this regard, the Cairns Group considers that trade reform should not be put off waiting for better times but urges that the current economic conditions should be embraced as an opportunity to make this a reality.

The Cairns Group asks all WTO Members to reaffirm their commitment to this outcome and act to make it a reality.