"Chair of agriculture talks circulates revised draft text, as MC14 outline emerges"
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"This text seeks to strike a balance, in my view, by reflecting the shared ambition of
m
embers to work towards a fair and market-oriented agricultural trading system capable of delivering outcomes, including enhanced food security
,
" said the Chair.
He told the meeting that, in his view, the draft
would reaffirm
m
embers' commitment to reinvigorate the negotiations and
place
them in a better position to engage more effectively
upon their
return
to Geneva
after MC14
.
The Chair
reported to the meeting, which was open to all WTO
m
embers,
following a week of intensive consultations
since the
last meeting
of
the full membership on
27 February
.
Reactions
Most
members
spoke in
favo
u
r
of
the
revised
draft.
Many said that,
while it may not perfectly reflect their positions,
it
struck a careful balance among competing positions and
w
as a
good
basis for
consensus at the
M
inisterial
C
onference
.
Several members said they had wanted to see their specific
negotiating
priorities reflected
in the draft, but
in a
spirit of compromise
could
accept
the formulation prepared by the Chair
.
A few members
noted
th
at
the text
sh
ould
in their
view
be
furthe
r amended.
The draft found support from agricultural importing and exporting countries, including both developed and developing countries, with several negotiating coalitions making collective statements welcoming the revised text.
However, not all members
expressed
support
for
the revised text.
One
m
ember
cautioned that, in its view,
the text
did not
commit members to explore
new
approaches
that
could help
them
move beyond the
current negotiating impasse
.
T
he
"
C
-
4
"
group
of West African cotton-producing
countries
(Mali, Chad, Benin, Burkina Faso)
also
said that it could not support the text
at this stage
as
the draft
, which does not explicitly mention cotton
,
did not
adequately
address their concerns.
Members also made suggestions on the format of
the
session on
a
griculture at MC14. Most
encouraged
the Chair
to
develop a short set of
questions to
guide
dialog
ue
among
m
inisters
during the plenary
session
, while a few
thought that breakout sessions would be
useful.
Next
steps
The Chair thanked all
WTO
members
that
had
taken part in
the
consultations
,
and
especially those that
had contributed comments on his earlier draft
.
The
Chair
will
report
to
the
10-11 March
General
Council meeting
and will include
the
text
in
his
written
report to
be
forwarded
to the
Ministerial
Conference
.
Along with his
desc
r
i
pt
ion
of the process
having led to this
draft
tex
t
and the
acknowledgment
of
the
remaining
concerns,
the report will also include guidance on the conduct of
m
inisters' discussions on agriculture at MC14.
