WTO MC13: No agreement on Agriculture

Despite the leading efforts of the EU and other Members to find compromises towards an agreement, the WTO could not agree on advancing agriculture reform at the 13^th Ministerial Conference (MC13) which ended Friday in Abu Dhabi. The divergences across the membership were too large to be solved. This failure is unfortunately to the detriment of the most vulnerable countries who count most on the multilateral trading system.

Unrealistic demands among wide divergence of positions

• Despite the constructive and pragmatic engagement of the EU and other Members towards deliverables at MC13, no agreement could be reached. It is disappointing that progress could not be made on agriculture reform, which was one of the key interests for the EU. As a successful net-exporter of agri-food products, the EU has an interest in a well-functioning trade system. Divergence of views, sometimes combined with unrealistic demands from other WTO Members, rendered agreement impossible. Agreeing a permanent solution for the public stockholding programs proved to be the most difficult challenge. While public stockholding programs may be essential to contribute to domestic food security, if implemented as support to producers’ prices, they may negatively affect agricultural trade and impact food security of other countries.
• The European Union went to great lengths to find an outcome on agriculture, by demonstrating engagement and commitment to the WTO and to cooperation with its Members. One of the main EU objectives was the reform of subsidies negatively affecting trade, which are implemented by many  developed and developing countries. Thanks to the reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), most EU subsidies have no negative effects on trade and have a positive contribution to the goals of  environmental protection.
• The EU was also committed to delivering good results for the most vulnerable countries at this Ministerial Conference, in the current context of food insecurity. Priorities in this regard included finding an agreement to exempt least developed countries from export restrictions on food, as well as to ensure fair trade for African cotton producers. 
• The interests of the agricultural sector as well as the need to promote the EU’s CAP were a crucial consideration in the European Union’s positions in the negotiations.  
• While it is regrettable that no agreement could be reached, the EU is committed to continuing the agricultural negotiations and will continue to work hard to keep these negotiations on the right track in the WTO. In the difficult context of geopolitical and food security crises, the EU remains committed to a rules-based international agricultural trading system. The discussions in MC13 have highlighted the need to work towards realistic, inclusive and balanced outcomes on agricultural reform towards MC14.

Background

At the last Ministerial Conference in 2022, WTO members committed to avoiding unjustified export restrictions on food and improving transparency on any export restrictions that do occur. Moreover, a Decision was taken to exempt humanitarian purchases by the World Food Programme from export restrictions.

Related links

WTO press release

European Commission press release

European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski said:

I regret that, despite the constructive approach of the EU and other Members and much efforts invested, the WTO Members could not finally agree an outcome on agriculture at MC 13. This was notably due to unrealistic demands and wide divergences of views among members, in particular on the issue of public stockholding for food security purposes. The EU remains committed to working towards balanced, inclusive and realistic outcomes on agricultural reform at MC14. The EU remains committed to a strong multilateral trading system which delivers on the interest of farmers and contributes to global food security.