Trade Reform Needed to Help Our Farmers: Cairns Group

The Cairns Group of agricultural exporting nations has expressed deep concern about the lack of progress in the WTO agriculture negotiations through a strong statement released in Geneva today.

Chair of the Group, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, Mark Vaile, said time was running out for Australian farmers to get a fair deal in the WTO’s Doha Round of trade negotiations.

The statement came as Mr Vaile announced that Cairns Group ministers would hold their annual meeting in Cairns from September 20 to 22 this year. The meeting will coincide with the 20 th anniversary of the Group’s first meeting, held in the Far North Queensland city, in 1986.

The Group continues to advocate for trade reform to get a better deal for farmers all around the world who operate in the most distorted sector of world trade.

Mr Vaile emphasised that there is now only a little over a month remaining before the end-April deadline agreed by Ministers in Hong Kong for finalising disciplines on agriculture and industrial products. "Led by Australia, the Cairns Group remains one of the most important global partnerships pushing for an ambitious outcome on agriculture in this Round," Mr Vaile said.

"I am disappointed that more progress has not been made at recent meetings of key Ministers that I have attended. The old blockages remain firmly in place, and we urgently need key players to show greater flexibility.

"I call on all WTO Members to recognise the parlous state of the Doha Round. We cannot afford to allow this important staging post to pass us by. Too much is at stake for farmers in Australia and around the globe, and for the future of the WTO as an institution."

Mr Vaile emphasised that a way forward must be found on agricultural market access which delivers genuine commercial opportunities. "The current depth of tariff cuts and treatment of sensitive products so far proposed by the European Union locks in patterns of protection which have for so long hampered opportunities for efficient farmers."

Mr Vaile said the Cairns Group meeting in September would enable Ministers to make a final push towards wrapping up the Doha Round by the end of 2006.

"The Cairns Group has long championed the cause of international agricultural reform and it is highly fitting that we will be returning to Cairns at such a critical juncture in the negotiations.

"The meeting provides a valuable opportunity to showcase the stunning tropical beauty of Far North Queensland and the warm hospitality of the people of Queensland," Mr Vaile said.

Copies of the Cairns Group statement can be found at www.cairnsgroup.org.

Contact: Mr Vaile's Office 02 6277 7420, Departmental 02 6261 1555