Media releases
Monday 21 October 2002 - MVT128/2002
Farm Leaders Support Cairns Group Agricultural Reform
Farm leaders from Cairns Group countries today joined with their
Ministers in calling for reform of high levels of support and protection
in agriculture, Trade Minister Mark Vaile said.
Farm leaders met with Ministers as part of the Cairns Group Ministerial
meeting being held in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
"The key issue we discussed was how we could best work together to
get the message out there that there must be meaningful reform of
world agricultural trade in the Doha negotiations," Mr Vaile said.
"Industry, which suffers directly from highly-distorted agricultural
markets, has a major role to play in highlighting the high costs of
agricultural protection and support, and assisting the Cairns Group
to tackle these problems effectively."
Farm Leaders told Ministers that it was unacceptable that some WTO
members had failed so far to live up to the spirit of the Doha Development
Agenda.
Farm Leaders said it was unacceptable that the European Union and
Japan have failed to place detailed proposals on the negotiating table.
They also encouraged the United States to commit to genuinely substantial
and progressive liberalisation, including elimination of trade-distorting
domestic support.
During the meeting, Mr Vaile met with representatives of the Global
Sugar Alliance for Sugar Trade Reform and Liberalisation to discuss
recent research which highlights the importance of securing meaningful
WTO outcomes for sugar.
Mr Vaile also met representatives of the newly-formed Global Dairy
Alliance, which is focusing on opening up market access and eliminating
export subsidies in the dairy sector.
Media Contact: Mark Croxford +61 02 6277 7420
Local Date:
Friday, 21-Nov-2008 16:27:42 EST
