./.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/AG/NG/W/10
26 April 2000
(00-1673)
Committee on Agriculture
Special SessionOriginal:  English
FIRST SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
23-24 MARCH 2000
Statement by Canada
Thank you, and let me also thank you for agreeing to take on the Chairmanship of this
meeting on such short notice.
We sincerely hope that the impasse which led this Committee to call on your services will be
resolved quickly.  This is necessary, both for the good of these agricultural negotiations, and for the
good of the WTO system in general.  In the meantime, we appreciate your willingness to step into the
breech and help us use this meeting to get these mandated negotiations under way.
Canada welcomes the start of these mandated agriculture negotiations.Almost exactly six years ago, on 15 April 1994, all of our countries agreed that negotiations
would begin from the start of this year on continuing the agriculture reform programme.
What we need to do today is put in place the practical arrangements to follow through on that
commitment.
We note that the commitment is to negotiate now.  This is not a time for preparatory work.
This is not a time for technical discussions leading to negotiations sometime in the future.  And we
see no requirement for sequencing in Article 20.
In Canada we have undertaken an extensive consultation process over the past three years,
recognizing that we had a commitment to be ready to  negotiate this year.  We have developed a fairly
detailed negotiating position, which will be the basis of Canadian proposals over the coming months.
We have also worked closely with our Cair ns Group partners.  Almost two years ago, we
agreed on the Cairns Group Vision Statement, se tting out our common vision of a better-functioning
agricultural trading system.  We look forward to  presenting ideas with the Cairns Group on how to
achieve that vision.
So, we are ready to move ahead.  What we need to agree today is a process and work plan that
will allow us to do so.
We see the process in two stages.In the first stage, this year, the negotiations should focus on allowing participants to explain
what they want to achieve in these negotiations, and how
 they propose to achieve their objectives.G/AG/NG/W/10
Page 2
We would see meetings at least back-to-back with Committee on Agriculture meetings, with
flexibility to schedule additional meetings, or longer meetings, if the work requires.
This phase would begin with our June meeting and would run up to the end of the year, when
we hope that everyone will have had a chance to put forward their proposals.
The second phase would be next year, once we ha ve the range of ideas on the table.  Then we
can turn to a more systematic discussion of the issues and seek to narrow differences.
These negotiations are very important to Canada’s agriculture and food sector.  Let me simply
underline a couple of facts that help explain why.
The most recent WTO Annual Report shows that Canada is the 3rd-largest agricultural
exporter, behind the US and the EU.
We are the 5th largest agricultural importer, behind the EU, the US, Japan and Russia.But, unlike these other major trading countries, Canada has a relatively small population of
30 million.
The reality is that we have a highly productive agriculture sector and a relatively small
domestic market, so Canadian farmers and agri-food industry depend on world markets for a
significant part of their income.
Also, while we are major-league agricultural tr aders, we simply do not have enough taxpayers
to play in the major leagues of agricultural subsidies, so our exporters depend on WTO rules to helpensure that world markets work efficiently.
Right now, many Canadian producers are suffering depressed farm incomes, caused in part by
excessive subsidization in other major producing countries.  They are looking to these negotiations to
reduce distortions and improve the functioning of markets.
Let me also note that these negotiations need to address the needs of developing countries.
We believe that both food security and sustainable development are served by reducing
trade-distorting subsidies and allowing developing  countries to compete in a fair and undistorted
agricultural trading system.  We recognize that better agricultural trade rules are not the whole answer
for these issues, but we believe that trade reform is an important piece of the puzzle.
The need to move ahead with our work is clear.  This meeting can contribute to addressing
this need by agreeing on a realistic work plan that will let us get down to the work of negotiating the
next part of the reform programme.
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