Joint Media Release
The Hon Mark Vaile, Federal Minister for Trade and The Hon Warren Truss, Federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
Tuesday, 18 November 2003
WTO Members Must Dig Deeper To Advance Ag Reform
All World Trade Organisation members will need to lift their ambition if reform of world agricultural trade is to be achieved, Minister for Trade, Mark Vaile, and Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Warren Truss, said today.
“Efficient farmers world-wide including Australia’s own farm community will not accept an outcome that falls short of the Doha mandate,” the Ministers said.
Mr Vaile and Mr Truss were speaking following the release of a new report by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) which analyses the framework text on agriculture produced during the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the WTO, held in Cancun last September.
The text, produced by the Chair of the Cancun Conference, Minister Ernesto Derbez from Mexico, is the key text currently on the table of the WTO agriculture negotiations.
“It is now essential that the WTO Membership redoubles its efforts in Geneva to revitalise the WTO agriculture negotiations,” Mr Vaile said.
“Australia accepts the Derbez text as the only feasible basis for an immediate restarting of negotiations, but significant improvement is needed in a range of areas and particularly the market access area before we can accept the text as the framework for delivering agricultural reform in the Doha round.”
“ABARE’s analysis confirms what the Government has been saying all along –that that those countries who distort trade through the use of massive subsidies have to be prepared to dig deeper to deliver genuine reform to international agriculture markets,” Mr Truss said.
“The Doha mandate calls for substantial improvements in market access, substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support and the phasing out of export subsidies. All WTO members must follow through on these commitments for real reform to be achieved.”
Media contacts: Matthew Doman (Mr Vaile) 02 6277 7420 - Tim Langmead (Mr Truss) 02 6277 7520