WORLD TRADE WT/L/220
24June1997
ORGANIZATION(97-2598)
Original: English
CAIRNS GROUP MINISTERIAL MEETING
(RiodeJaneiro, 5-6June1997)
Communication from Australia
Thefollowing communication, dated 12June1997, hasbeenreceived from thePermanent
Mission ofAustralia.
_______________
TheCairns Group heldits17thMinisterial Meeting from5-6June1997. Ihavepleasure in
providing youwithacopyoftheCairns Group Ministerial Statement andCommunique released on
6JuneinRiodeJaneiro.
Iwould begrateful ifyoucould arrange fordistribution oftheStatement andCommunique
toWTO Members asacommunication from theCairns Group.WT/L/220
Page2
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Ministers ofCairns Group countries metinRiodeJaneiro, Brazil on5-6June1997andadopted
theattached communiqué. Inaddition, thefollowing statement wasagreed.
While recognizing thatsome limited progress onagricultural reform hadoccurred asaresult
oftheUruguay Round, anddomestic developments inmajor countries, world trade inagricultural
products remains seriously distorted andinequitable.
Ministers therefore stressed thatCairns Group countries willbeseeking farreaching and
ambitious reform ofworld agricultural tradewhen negotiations commence in1999, asmandated under
Article 20oftheAgreement onAgriculture.
TothisendMinisters haveinstructed officials toundertake asamatter ofurgency thenecessary
analysis andpreparation ofoptions andstrategies forallthekeyareas ofagriculture requiring reform
bythetimeofthenextCairns Ministerial meeting in1998.
Ministers stressed thattheCommittee onAgriculture should actwithsufficient speed toensure
thatbythetimeofthe1999negotiations theagenda, negotiating framework andmodalities arealready
agreed.
Ministers resolved toensure thenextnegotiations willcommence ontimein1999, willbe
pursued expeditiously, andwillachieve fundamental reform toplace agricultural trade onthesame
basis asother areas ofworld trade.
Ministersalsoconcludedthatgiventhegrowingdemandsasthenegotiationsapproach,Ministers
andofficials oftheCairns Group willintensify theircoordination inGeneva andcapitals.
COMMUNIQUE
The17thMinisterial Meeting oftheCairns Group washeldinRiodeJaneiro, Brazil on5-6
June1997. Observer delegations from Bolivia andSouth Africa alsoparticipated inthemeeting.
Ministers formally welcomed Paraguay asthenewest member oftheCairns Group. Theynoted
thattheparticipation ofParaguay would strengthen thecapacity ofthegroup towork forafairer and
freerinternational agricultural trading system.
Inthisconnection, Ministers agreed thatamong theprincipal strengths oftheCairns Group
were thediversity ofitsmembership andthebroad spanofitsmembers 'interests inthefullrange
oftrade inagricultural products. Over thenexttwoyears, theCairns Group would givepriority to
fosteringevenbroadersupportforfurtheragriculturalliberalization.Ministersindicatedtheirwillingness
inthisregard toconsider applications from possible newmembers whowere prepared tocommit
themselves totheshared principles oftheCairns Group andpursue further substantial liberalization
oftrade inagriculture.
Ministers examined arange ofinternational agricultural market andpolicy developments and
concludedthatthereweresomepositivesignsofpotentialforfurthersubstantialagriculturaltradereform.
They urged theEuropean Union tocontinue withtheprocess ofreforming itscommon agricultural
policy andtoensure thatsuchreform would beconsistent withafurther substantial, sustained reductionWT/L/220
Page3
inagricultural protection. They welcomed thecontinuing implementation oftheUnited States 'FAIR
Actandthereform being undertaken oftheagriculture sector intheUnited States. Ministers encouraged
allcountries tocontinue withtheprocess ofliberalizing agriculture, noting thebenefits agricultural
liberalization offered toconsumers andefficient producers throughout theworld.
Ministers agreed thattheaccession totheWorld Trade Organization ofcurrent andpotential
important agricultural exporters andimporters would haveamajor effect onagricultural trade. They
expressed support fornewWTO Members onterms which wereacceptable toallWTO Members and
which maintained theintegrity oftherulesbased system. Ministers highlighted thatnewWTO Members
would needtocomply fullywithWTO disciplines, particularly thoserelating tomarket access, domestic
supportandexportsubsidies.Ministersconfirmedinthisregardtheexportsubsidieswerenotacceptable
intheabsence ofsuchmeasures inthemost recent representative three yearperiod. Ministers also
expectedWTOapplicantstoagreetoastandstillcommitmentduringtheaccessionnegotiationstocommit
themselves toproviding effective andtradecreating market access opportunities toallWTO Members.
Ministers expressed disappointment thattodatenegotiations intheOECD hadfailed todevelop
effective disciplines ontheuseofexport credits onagricultural products andagreed tourgeall
participants tomake further efforts tocomplete thiswork assoonaspossible.
Ministers reaffirmed theneedforallcountries torefrain fromactions which might destabilize
international agriculture andcalled ontheEuropean Union andtheUnited States tocontinue toshow
restraint intheuseofexport subsidies, andurged them nottointroduce export restrictions.
Ministers reaffirmed theimportance ofthefullimplementation oftheWTO Agreements on
Agriculture andSanitary andPhytosanitary Measures. Ministers emphasized theneedtoensure that
WTO Members respect boththeletter andthespirit ofthedisciplines inallareas ofthese agreements.
They welcomed thefactthattheWTO Committee onAgriculture hadmoved beyond market access
issues initsmonitoring andsurveillance oftheimplementation ofUruguay Round commitments and
hadbegun togivemore attention toexport subsidies anddomestic support. They noted thatWTO
Members 'experience intheimplementation ofcommitments would beanimportant input into
preparations forthenextround ofagriculture negotiations. Ministers werealsopleased tonotethat
theWTO 'sCommittee onSPShadmade some progress, including through placing more emphasis
ontrade issues andproviding aforum fordiscussing SPSrelated trade concerns. They agreed to
coordinate effectively inthereview oftheSPSAgreement thatwilltakeplace in1998.
Ministers welcomed thesteps taken intheWTO Committee onAgriculture toimplement the
decision taken attheWTO Ministerial Conference heldinSingapore inDecember 1996toundertake
afocused work programme ofanalysis andinformation exchange (AIE). Ministers noted therolethat
issues raised intheimplementation oftheAgriculture Agreement would playintheanalysis and
information exchange process.
Ministersalsonoted,however,thatthescopeoftheAIEprocessrelatedtoallrelevantprovisions
oftheAgriculture Agreement, including issues other thanimplementation concerns. Ministers noted
theconstructive roleplayed bytheotherWTO Members ininitiating theAIEprocess andlooked forward
tothiscontinuing astheconsultations began toaddress abroader range ofissues inmore detail.
Ministers expected thattheanalysis andinformation exchange would allow allMembers tobuild a
thorough understanding ofissues andhelpidentify those thatwould needtobetackled intheAgriculture
Negotiations scheduled tobegin in1999.
Ministers noted thatthehalf-way point between theendoftheUruguay Round andthestart
ofthenewround onagriculture negotiations hadnowbeenreached. They stressed theimportance
ofadequate preparations forthenextround ofagriculture negotiations inorder forsuchnegotiationsWT/L/220
Page4
tobegin ontimeandtobeconcluded expeditiously. They affirmed their determination towork
constructively withallWTO Members inpreparing forthese negotiations.
Ministersreaffirmedthecontributionthatremovingagriculturaltraderestrictionsanddistortions
canmake asustainable development andpromoting theobjective ofmutually supportive trade and
environment policies andagreed topursue thisissue further, including through theWTO Committee
onTrade andEnvironment.
Ministers affirmed theirdetermination toworktogether toensure thattheinterests oftheCairns
Group wereactively andeffectively pursued attheWTO Ministerial Conferences which would beheld
before thecommencement ofthenextround ofagriculture negotiations.
Ministers reiterated theircommitment tofurther multilateral liberalization ofagricultural trade
asanintegral andessential partofthedevelopment ofthemultilateral tradesystem. They emphasized
theimportance ofthenextagricultural negotiations providing theframework foranoutcome inthe
three areas ofexport subsidies, domestic support andmarket access which would bring thetreatment
ofagriculture intheWTO intolinewithother sectors. Ministers agreed thatabalanced outcome in
thethree areas wasrequired inawaythatwould encourage economic growth andemployment
opportunities forallWTO Members, andacknowledge thelegitimate needs ofdeveloping countries.