WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/AG/NG/W/186
20 July 2001
(01-3643)
Committee on Agriculture
Special SessionOriginal:  English/
French
COMMUNICATION FROM MAURITIUS
The following communication was received from the delegation of Mauritius on
13 July 2001.
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The delegation of Mauritius requests the circulation of the attached Covering Note from the
Permanent Mission of the Republic of Mauritius, together with the Press Release adopted at theSecond International Conference on Non-Trade Concerns held in Mauritius on 28-31 May 2001.G/AG/NG/W/186
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COVERING NOTE
The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Mauritius hereby submits the Press Release
adopted at the Second International Conference on Non-Trade Concerns, held in Mauritius on 28-31 May 2001.  The conference, which was co-organized by the European Commission, Japan, the
Republic of Korea, Norway, Switzerland and Mauritius, was attended by 42 WTO Members and
Observers.
Five papers were discussed at the Conference as follows:(i) Coexistence in a World of Agricultural Diversity – The right of every country to
safeguard Non-Trade Concerns
Presented by Norway
(ii) Environment as a Non-Trade Concern
Presented by the European Commission
(iii) Food Security as a Non-Trade Concern
Presented by Japan
(iv) Rural Development as a Non-Trade Concern
Presented by the Republic of Korea
(v) Illustrative List of NTCs and Possible Implementation Instruments
Presented by Switzerland.
These papers are available in both English and French on Website:
http://odin.dep.no/ld/mf/Conferences/G/AG/NG/W/186
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Ministry of Agriculture, Food Technology and Natural Resources
Press Release
SECOND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON NON-TRADE CONCERNS
Securing the coexistence of various types of agriculture in the context of the
multilateral trading system
In the ongoing WTO agricultural negotiations, non-trade concerns are of vital importance to
both developing and developed countries.  WTO Members are committed to strengthening the
multilateral agricultural trading system through the continuation of the reform process under
Article 20 of the Agreement on Agriculture.  In this context we underline that a one-size-fits-allapproach will not be appropriate to address such concerns because it would not sufficiently take into
account the diversity of country situations.  How to address these non-trade concerns in concrete ways
was discussed at the Second International Conference on Non-Trade Concerns in Agriculture attended
by senior officials from 42 WTO Members and Obse rvers, which was held in Mauritius from 28-
31 May 2001.
The conference was organized by the European Commission and the governments of Japan,
Mauritius, Norway, the Republic of Korea and Switzerland, and attended by another thirty-six
Members and Observers comprising developed countries, economies in transition, custom territories
and developing countries including least-developed countries, land-locked countries and small islanddeveloping states, all of whom have a keen interest in securing their systems of agriculture in the
context of the multilateral trading system.
As the agriculture negotiations at the WTO progress in their second phase, participants
discussed in particular the policy measures and instruments to achieve their non-trade objectives,
building on the outcome of the first NTC Conference held in Ullensvang, Norway in July 2000.  They
focused on three main concerns that are common to most countries and economies, namely ruraldevelopment, food security and protection of the environment.
On rural development , participants discussed a number of possible instruments, in
recognition that while the priorities of various countries are diverse, all the countries need to preserve
or develop the economic and social environment necessary to maintain rural population.  Agriculturalactivity plays a central role in this endeavour.
On food security , it was recognized that all countries have to ensure food security for their
people, through domestic production, stockholding and imports.
On e nvironment  various means were considered to better accommodate policies meeting
legitimate environmental non-trade concerns.  All countries had such concerns and recognized the
importance of agriculture in that respect.  Conservation of biological diversity, maintenance of farmed
landscapes, and protection against disasters were recognized as examples of environmental non-trade
concerns.
It was underlined that non-trade concerns would not be satisfied through the market only
since public goods will not generally be provided through the market.  It was also recognized that
protecting NTCs calls for resources and that, for vulnerable developing countries, including least
developed countries, land-locked countries, small island developing states and vulnerable economiesin transition, preferential market access is a key means to obtaining these resources.G/AG/NG/W/186
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Discussion further revealed that these non-trade concerns cannot be adequately addressed
without domestic agricultural production.  The coexistence of various types of agriculture, based on
each country's specific production conditions and potential and historical and cultural background, is
therefore required in order to pursue non-trade objectives in both high- and low-potential areas.
Participants underlined the diversity of situatio ns both with respect to their priorities and
production conditions, but shared their genuine interest in safeguarding the NTCs and the need for the
multilateral trading system to accommodate such con cerns through a variety of instruments.  They
will actively participate in the process of WTO agricultural negotiations, building on the discussion
they have had in this Conference.
Mauritius, 31 May 2001
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