WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/L/368
30 October 2000
(00-4522)
Original:  English
CAIRNS GROUP FARM LEADERS PRESENTATION TO CAIRNS GROUP MINISTERS
Banff, Canada
11 October 2000
Communication from Australia
The following presentation from the Cairns Group Farm Leaders to the Cairns Group
Ministers has been received from the Permanent Mission of Australia with the request that it be
circulated to Members.
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1. Farm leaders of the Cairns Group, which is comprised of 18 fair trading agricultural exporting
countries, have come to Banff this week to discuss the key issues causing protectionism anddiscrimination in world agricultural trade.  We have  also come together to reconfirm our commitment
to achieving a fair, equitable and open rules-based trading system for agriculture.
2. Collectively we represent millions of farmers in Latin America, Australiasia, Canada, South
Africa, Asia and the Pacific.  The Cairns Group alliance is stronger and deeper than ever before.  We
as farmers, will be working alongside our governments, over the next few days and throughout the
course of the WTO agriculture negotiations to accomplish meaningful reform to agricultural trade.
3. The present Agreement on Agriculture was a step forward in the liberalization of agricultural
trade.  For the first time, some enforceable disciplines have been applied to agricultural market access,
export subsidies and domestic support.  Nevertheless, there are great disparities between countries in
the level of commitment and obligation.  There still exist profound distortions which need to be
addressed immediately.
4. Despite the failure to launch a comprehensive new round of WTO negotiations in Seattle, the
WTO agriculture negotiations have been initiated.  However, the integrity of these negotiations has
been challenged by the continuing abuse of WTO principles and the maintenance and increase of
subsidy and protectionism in some industrialized countries.
5. Agricultural trade rules allowing discriminatory practices and distorted world markets lead to
low commodity prices undermining profitability and investment in our agricultural industries.  We aredisturbed by the recent trend of some developed countries to reinstate very high levels of domestic
support and the continued use of export subsidies.  These high support levels unfairly penalize
efficient food producers, particularly those among our developing country members.
6. As Cairns Group Farm Leaders we are deeply committed to fair and equitable trade rules
under the WTO, we must work together to ensure that countries can compete on a level playing fieldin international markets.  We strongly encourage our governments over the next two days of meetingsWT/L/368
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to identify the steps necessary to address the disparities which were not addressed in the Uruguay
Round.
7. In Seattle we circulated a statement which summarized the conclusions of the Cairns Group
Farm Leaders.1  In that statement we identified the types of disciplines and measures required to
achieve our goal of a fair trading environment.  We believe that the minimum requirements for aneffective agricultural agreement include:
(a) vastly improved market access through substantial tariff reductions on products
without tariff quotas, improvements in the administration of tariff quotas, and the
elimination of non-tariff barriers;
(b) substantial reductions in amber support limits, elimination of the blue box and an
overall cap on domestic supports with appropriate differential treatment fordeveloping countries;
(c) the peace clause should expire as already agreed;(d) tightening green box rules to ensure that only non-trade distorting programmes are
included in a non-countervailable green box;
(e) the total elimination of export subsidies and introducing effective rules governing the
use of credits, food aid and export promotion programmes to prevent these
programmes being used as export subsidies;
(f) the SPS Agreement should not be open to review in the forthcoming WTO
negotiations.  The core issue is to achieve effective compliance with the SPS
Agreement.  Trade in genetically modified foods is covered by the existing SPS
Agreement and must continue to be covered under this Agreement;
(g) the TRIPS Agreement should not be opened to review.  The creation of new
protectionist measures, through expanded intellectual property rights, must be
opposed;
(h) environmental, social and labour issues should be dealt with within the appropriate
international bodies and must not be allowed to be used as barriers to trade.
We urge our Ministers to support endeavours to strengthen the capacity of the WTO
so that it can effectively deal with these challenges and achieve a speedy and broadly
acceptable outcome.  The complementary role of other multilateral institutions in
dealing  with non-trade concerns is of major importance for such progress.  We callon our governments to demonstrate their commitment to the critical roles of these
institutions  (e.g. ILO, IMF, UN).
8. These issues will be discussed later today at the Cairns Group Farm Leaders Seminar at which
we hope many of you will join us.
9. Current income problems in the agricultural sectors of many countries are severely
exacerbated by the trade distorting effects of the current subsidy and protectionist measures of some
industrialized countries.  Developing countries cannot achieve their potential in a market place
dominated by the trade distorting practices of a few.  The trade negotiating task before us is not easy,
                                                     
1 See Annex attached.WT/L/368
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but it is imperative that we pursue our goals with determination and insist on results which will
provide a fair production and trading environment for our farmers.
10. Cairns Group Farm Leaders support special and differential treatment for developing
countries, to the extent that it will create vastly improved opportunities for them to fully participate in
agricultural production and trade.  Varying levels of development among countries needs to be takeninto consideration.
11. The need is urgent!  The negotiations must be completed within the three year time-frame.
The Cairns Group Farm Leaders call on our Minister's to provide leadership to the rest of the world to
move agricultural trade reform to a more transparent and non-subsidized rules-based system.
Signed by the leaders, or their representatives, of the following organizations:
Argentina
Sociedad Rural Argentina
Australia
National Farmers' Federation
Brazil
Confederacion Nacional da Agricultura
Canada
Canadian Federation of Agriculture
Colombia
Sociedad de Agricultores de Colombia
Costa Rica
Camara Nacional de Agrivultura y
agroindustria
Guatemala
AgexprontIndonesia
Indonesian Farmers' Association
New Zealand
Federated Farmers of New Zealand
Paraguay
Asociacion Rural del Paraguay
Philippines
Federation of Free Farmers Cooperatives
South Africa
South African Agricultural Union
Uruguay
Association Rural del UruguayWT/L/368
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ANNEX
Proposal of Cairns Group Farm Leaders to  the Next World Trade Organization (WTO)
Round of Negotiations on Agriculture
Seattle, Washington
29 November 1999
I. INTRODUCTION
1. Farmer representatives of the Cairns Group, constituted by countries which do not subsidize
exports and for whom the trade of agricultural commodities is of utmost importance to their
economies, urge World Trade Organization member countries to continue negotiations on issues inorder to strengthen the progress made towards trade liberalization of agricultural through a rules-
based system.
2. Since its incorporation in 1986, the Cairns Group has set as its goal to have the agricultural
included in the GATT round of negotiations in order to make progress towards more fair and
agricultural trade.
3. Commitments for subsidy reductions provided for in the Agreement on Agriculture by the
WTO have left a broad margin for subsidizing countries to resort to practices which have allowed
them to increase their share in international mark ets to the detriment of more efficient producers is
imperative to make progress in the elimination of these unfair practices by establishing rules shall put
all stakeholders in international trade on an equal footing.
4. The revival of protectionism created by the abuse of the WTO principles subverts the
progress gained by the liberalization of international trade, raise alarm and concern, as well as serious
on the effectiveness of the measures provided for in the Agreement on Agriculture.
5. In preparing for a meaningful outcome from this new round it is fundamental to have
interaction between the government and the private sector.  The more intense and consistent thisconsultation the greater shall be the chances of success.
II. CAIRNS GROUP FACED WITH THE NEW ROUND
6. The Agreement on Agriculture which replaced quantitative restrictions and similar measures
tariffs is a step forward in the liberalization of agricultural trade by implementing disciplines in such
us market access, export subsidies and domestic support.  Nevertheless, there still exist profound
distortions which need to be addressed immediately.
7. Average tariff levels for agricultural products are lower following the Uruguay Round but
some still disproportionately high.
8. In the spirit of increasing and improving market access farm leaders propose the following:
(a) As a first priority the Uruguay Round 5 per cent minimum access provisions must be
fully implemented.  This 5 per cent clean minimum access on a product by product
basis must be an immediate goal prior to  preparation for the expansion of minimum
access;WT/L/368
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(b) Countries must administer tariff-rate quotas to ensure that the intended level of
in-quota achievable. It is especially important to ensure improved market access for
developing countries;
(c) In order to ensure that primary and processed products receive equal treatment tariff
escalation must be eliminated;
(d) We demand the prompt elimination of the misuse of special agricultural safeguards;(e) Provision of special and differential treatment for developing countries in recognition
of the disparities in the levels of development and support between countries.
9. Export subsidization is undoubtedly the most condemnable international trade practice. Cairns
Group Farm Leaders regard export subsidies, subsidized export loans and subsidized loan guarantees
to be unfair practices.  Cairns Group Farm Leaders urge the Ministers to pursue the immediate and
complete elimination of these practices.  Clear criteria with regards to food aid is required, so that it
shall not become a mechanism to avoid commitments aimed at the reduction or elimination of exportsubsidies.
10. Domestic support policies far from receding, pursuant to that provided for in the Uruguay are
significantly compromising the market of many products.  There must be greater discipline governing
domestic support including the imposition of a cap on total domestic support programmes appropriate
differential treatment for developing countries.
11. Therefore, Cairns Group farm leaders propose to initially restrain "amber box" expenditures
significant continuous product by product reducti ons of the amber box spending limits.  The support
priority should be to resolve problems arising from the existing WTO Agreement on Agriculture.
Green Box criteria for measures not subject to re duction should be reviewed to ensure that only
non-trade distorting programmes are included on the green box.  Once a program has met newlydefined green criteria, it would be permanently exempt from countervailing action.  The "blue box"
measures must be eliminated.
12. The peace clause should expire as already agreed.
13. Environmental and labour issues should be discussed in other fora and on the basis of the UN
Agreements on the Environment and ILO regulations.
14. Cairns Group Farm Leaders are concerned that the concept of multifunctionality may create
new opportunities to expand trade distorting domestic support programmes.  Support measures relatedto multifunctionality must be transparent and comply  with green box criteria and be included in that.
15. With regard to trade and technology in agriculture, it is important to allow producers to have
access to innovation.
16. The SPS Agreement should not be open to review in the forthcoming WTO negotiation.  The
Cairns Group Farm Leaders are concerned that sanitary and phytosanitary standards and technicalregulations are becoming a preferential instrument for restricting trade.  The core issue is to achieve
effective compliance with the SPS Agreement.
17. Trade in genetically modified foods is covered by the existing SPS Agreement.  We note that
trade in some genetically modified foods is being blocked without due regard to the SPS.  We urge
our trade ministers to immediately address this problem.WT/L/368
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III. CONCLUSIONS
18. Farm leaders in the Cairns Group countries called for the negotiations in Seattle to start on
time and to be structured in such a way that other sectors do not leap-frog the difficult area of Farmers
believe that agriculture must not be traded off against any other sectors.
19. Finally, the Cairns Group Farm Leaders demand that Agricultural Trade reform leads to more
transparent and non-subsidized systems.  We urge the Ministers present at the 3rd Conference of
Ministers to develop the basis for a negotiation mandate in order to propose an agricultural agenda
which must be concluded in less than three years giving priority to rules-based liberalization of
agricultural products and foodstuffs.
Signed by the leaders, or their representatives, of the following organizations:
Argentina
Sociedad Rural Argentina
Australia
National Farmers' Federation
Canada
Canadian Federation of Agriculture
Chile
Sociedad Nacional Agricultura
Colombia
Sociedad de Agricultores de Colombia
Fiji
National Farmers Union
Indonesia
Indonesian Farmers' AssocitaionNew Zealand
Federated Farmers of NZ
Paraguay
Asociacion Rural del Paraguay
Philippines
Federation of Free Farmer Cooperatives
South African
South African Agricultural Union
Thailand
Cooperative League of Thailand
Uruguay
Asociacion Rural del Uruguay
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