Cricket is a passion which binds Pakistan and Australia, but that love of cricket is not the only bond our two nations share. Pakistan and Australia both want a fairer deal for their farmers in global markets. They want an end to the high tariffs and farm subsidies that cost them millions of dollars in potential exports and depressed prices every year.
Pakistan's agricultural industry employs around half the country's workforce and with major exports such as cotton-based products and rice, Pakistan's farmers have a lot to gain from a reformed world trading environment.
This is why the 31st Cairns Group Ministerial Meeting of 19 agricultural exporters, to be hosted by Pakistan Minister for Commerce, the Honourable Humayun Akhtar Khan, in Lahore on 16-18 April is of crucial importance. As Australia's Trade Minister and Cairns Group Chair, I will be working closely with Minister Khan and our other Cairns Group colleagues, to increase the pressure on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Doha Round's major players to achieve on ambitious outcome on agriculture.
The location of the Cairns Group meeting is significant. Pakistan, a developing economy and a relatively new member of the Cairns Group, is working hard to secure an ambitious Doha outcome. The meeting will also serve officially to welcome the Group's newest member, Peru. The growing membership of the Cairns Group is a sign that an increasing number of countries are deeply dissatisfied with the current trading system for agriculture.
The Doha negotiations are now in a critical phase with the decision earlier this year to intensify work. But there is a long way to go. Failure to conclude a deal this year risks the negotiations stumbling on into the next decade. This would be a major lost opportunity and could weaken the WTO trading system which affords equal rights to all members.
Agricultural trade remains the world's most distorted and protected sector. Achieving an outcome on agriculture that delivers substantial new commercial opportunities is essential if the Round is to deliver on its development promises. This is the key also to achieving progress on services and manufactures.
If the Round is to go forward, there must be real movement toward a genuinely open agricultural trade environment. This means those with high levels of tariff protection like the EU and Japan need to do more to deliver better market access, while major farm subsidisers including US need to make deeper cuts to their farm support programs. Major developing countries must also agree to contribute more to the overall outcome.
There is a lot at stake for all countries. The Cairns Group has led the campaign to liberalise and reform world agricultural markets for over 20 years. The Group is till playing a crucial role in pushing for ambition and in contributing ideas to help move the negotiations forward. The Group's recent proposals on how to secure market access for sensitive agricultural products and for tropical products are good examples.
The Cairns Group Ministerial Meeting will provide an opportunity to elaborate on the key elements needed to move away from protectionism and trade-distorting subsidies, and toward a trading environment where innovation and efficiency are rewarded and not penalised.
Cairns Group Ministers meeting in Pakistan will be joined by a number of the key players in the Doha Round negotiations, as well as by WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy. Cairns Group farmers will also be represented. It will be an important opportunity to push home the message that a meaningful outcome on agriculture is the only way forward for Doha.
An outcome on agriculture that provides farmers with new commercial opportunities is what Australia is asking. I know Pakistan and other Cairns Group members want the same thing. I look forward to advancing our cause in Lahore.
Comments
Comments are closed.