SOUTH-EAST ASIA (AFP): Trade ministers from around the world have begun delicate discussions on the key issues of agriculture and fisheries at a high-level WTO meeting in Yaounde, with little significant progress expected.
The main focus of the ongoing ministerial meeting in the Cameroonian capital was desperately needed reform of the World Trade Organization, which finds itself weakened by geopolitical strains, stalled negotiations and rising protectionism.
But trade ministers were also tasked on Saturday to take stock on concrete issues, in particular on agriculture and fisheries.
"I come from India. India imports edible oil. India imports pulses. India imports sugar sometimes, and quite a lot of things are imported under WTO rules. That has disadvantaged Indian peasants," said Kannaiyan Subramaniam, an Indian vegetable producer and member of the international anti-globalisation movement Via Campesina.
"We don't want WTO anymore," he told AFP, insisting that "free trade facilitated by WTO is not in line with the food sovereignty principles".
Since the members of the global trade body began agriculture negotiations in 2000, the value of agriculture trade has ballooned fivefold, rising from $300 billion to $1.49 trillion in 2024, according to the WTO.
Barriers to agricultural trade have also decreased considerably, with the average tariff applied to agriculture products falling from 13 percent in 2005 to 5.7 percent in 2023.
Developing countries have stopped short of demanding the removal of agricultural issues from WTO discussions, but the talks remain so deeply divided that countries for several years have been unable to even agree on a programme of work.
- Public food stockpiles -
While some of the WTO's 166 members want to accelerate progress on specific issues, others favour a comprehensive approach to address all outstanding agricultural matters.
No major agreement is expected, but countries were seeking consensus on a declaration on agriculture, trade and global food security, aimed to lay the groundwork for future negotiations.
WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called on ministers to agree to a text with "clear pathways and instructions, with maybe some timelines along the way", to break the deadlock on agriculture, with the goal of reaching an agreement "by the next ministerial", expected in two-year's time.
In Geneva, where the WTO is based, African countries had requested that the text specifically mention cotton.
Food security is also on the agenda, with deep disagreement over a long-standing demand from India and others for a temporary measure allowing countries to hold food stockpiles be made permanent.
Such a measure remains fiercely opposed by other countries, which warn that public stocks of food distort trade.
- Subsidies encouraging overfishing -
A long-running fisheries issue was also up for discussion on Saturday.
WTO members managed four years ago to nail down a historic agreement banning harmful fisheries subsidies after more than two decades of talks.
But since then, countries have failed to finalise a second portion of the negotiations aimed to broaden the ban to include subsidies that contribute to overfishing and overcapacity.
In Younde, countries hope to agree on a text calling for those negotiations to continue.
But the issue is stalled and it is unclear if they will succeed at even that meagre ambition.
Countries, including India and Indonesia have criticised the proposed rules, while others, like the the United States, want them to be stricter.
The first part of the agreement is set to expire by 2029 if no deal is reached by that time on the other rules. -- AFP
