. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/L/495
6 November 2002
(02-6116)
Original:  English
TWENTY-FOURTH MINISTERIAL MEETING OF THE CAIRNS GROUP
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia
18-21 October 2002
Communication from Australia
The following communiqué from the 24th Ministerial Meeting of the Cairns Group held in
Bolivia, has been received from the Permanent Mission of Australia with the request that it be
circulated to Members.
_______________
CAIRNS GROUP COMMUNIQUE
The President of Bolivia, H.E. Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, officially opened the 24th Cairns
Group1 Ministerial meeting in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, on 18 October.  The President welcomed the
opportunity to meet with Cairns Group Ministers and special guests including Ambassador Robert
Zoellick (United States Trade Representative), Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi (Director General of the
WTO), Professor Edward Rugumayo (Minister for Tourism, Trade and Industry, Uganda) and His
Excellency, Ambassador Sun Zhenyu (China's Permanent Representative to the WTO).
"We, Ministers of the Cairns Group, meeting in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, reiterate that
fundamental reform of world agricultural trade is key to achieving the development objectives set out
in the historic decision taken at Doha to launch  the first Development Round.  Its predecessor, the
Uruguay Round, irrevocably established the principle that agriculture is an integral part of the
international trading system.  Since the implementation period concluded, however, almost no
progress has been made towards actually reducing massive subsidisation and protection.  Totalsupport and protection for farmers in developed countries exceeded $310 billion in 2001 and
significant market access barriers remain in place.  Export subsidies in all their forms continue to deny
unsubsidised agricultural producers trading opportunities, even in third countries.
The time has arrived for political leadership by those countries with the greatest adjustments
to make.  This leadership must be driven by an awar eness that this is one of the last chances that the
WTO Membership has to correct deep-seated inequities  in the international trading system.  A failure
to act will have serious consequences for the future of global trade.  Without a successful outcome in
agriculture, the whole Doha process will be at risk.  Ministers stressed that they were following the
path of reform as agreed in Doha and expected other major participants to do the same .  Such reform
will be a pre-requisite to adjusting deep imbalanc es in the international trading system;  it will
promote growth, sustainable development and poverty  alleviation and it will strengthen the economies
of even the major subsidising countries.
                                                     
1 Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Ch ile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Indonesia,
Malaysia, New Zealand, Paraguay, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand and Uruguay.WT/L/495
Page 2
Ministers said that holding the meeting in Bo livia brought home to them that development
and poverty alleviation in developing countries depended on global agricultural trade reform.  They
said this reform comprises the phasing out of all forms of export subsidies, substantial reductions in
trade-distorting domestic support and substantial improvements in market access for all agricultural
products.  The reform process should include the fullest liberalisation of market access of alternativeproducts of particular importance to the diversification of production instead of growing illicit
narcotic crops.  It should also include tropical products produced by developing countries.  Special
consideration should also be given to developing countries with socioeconomic problems including
food security, rural employment and development.
Ministers observed that since their first meeting in Cairns, Australia, they had been
instrumental in building a development coalition that recognised the central political importance of
agriculture in any negotiation to improve the functi oning of the world economy.  Leaders at the World
Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg had, for example, underlined the fundamental
importance of agricultural trade reform to economic development.  The presence of distinguished
guests at their 24
th Ministerial Meeting at Santa Cruz equally underscored this wider significance.
Ministers said it was clear from their discussions in Santa Cruz that there was a strong
commonality of view between the Cairns Group and the United States, Uganda and China about theambition for agricultural trade liberalisation.
Ministers restated their readiness to negotiate with all WTO partners:  "We have put forward
specific proposals, based on the Doha mandate.  We are ready to negotiate on the basis of these
proposals.  We also welcome the proposals that have been tabled by other parties to the negotiation –
but note that certain of these proposals, particularly from some developed countries , by indicating a
limited willingness to make fundamental reform, would retain most of the present imbalances".
Cairns Group Ministers stressed that the outcome of the negotiations must reflect the closely
inter-related nature of the three 'pillars' of real agriculture reform: market access, domestic support
and export competition.
Ministers pointed out that the absence of proposals from key negotiating partners greatly
complicated the negotiating process.  "We urge parties who have the major backlog of reforms to
table proposals consistent with the agreed objective of a fair and market-oriented trading system.  We
recognise that countries may have legitimate non-trade concerns.  But these do not constitute an
excuse for a lack of engagement.  Almost one year has passed since that mandate was agreed by all
WTO Ministers at Doha."
Cairns Group Ministers reaffirmed their readiness to continue constructive participation in the
Doha Development Agenda.  They noted that the various deadlines within the agriculture negotiations– the date of March 31 2003 for establishment of modalities being the most crucial – were fast
approaching.  Cairns Group Ministers were adamant that failure to live up to the Doha deadline would
have serious consequences for the negotiations as a whole.
Ministers welcomed the close collaboration between Governments and the private sector in
working towards an ambitious outcome from the agriculture negotiations.  Ministers receivedstatements from Cairns Group Farm Leaders, the Global Dairy Alliance and the Global Sugar
Alliance, who were also meeting in Santa Cruz.
Ministers warmly thanked the Bolivian Government for hosting the 24
th Cairns Group
meeting and looked forward to meeting again be fore the WTO Ministerial meeting takes place in
Cancun, Mexico, in September 2003.
__________