JOB/GC/375  
JOB/AG/256  
JOB/TE/85  
 
11 December 2023  
(23-8365) Page: 1/4 
General Council  
Committee on Agriculture, Special Session  
Committee on Trade and Environment  Original: English  
 
SHAPING MC13 OUTCOMES  
COMMUNICATION FROM THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION  
The following communication, dated 7 December 2023, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of the Russian Federation . 
 
_______________  
 
 
The Russian Federation hereby submits its proposals for the inclusion in the outcome documents of 
the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13).  
 
1  AGRICULTURE  
1.  The Russian Federation, being a major producer, exporter and importer of agricultural products, 
supports the cont inuation of negotiations in accordance with Article 20 of the WTO Agreement on 
Agriculture in order to reform the WTO rules on agricultural trade.  
2.  Russia is convinced that Members are capable of finding and agreeing upon mutually acceptable 
comprehensive solutions on all three major pillars of Agriculture negotiations, as well as on other 
agricultural trade issues of mutual concern, such as enhancing transparency and predictability.  
3.  Given the global interconnectedness of agricultural producti on processes, the crucial role of global 
value chains in the agricultural sector, respective interdependence of countries in terms of 
agricultural products supplies, as well as goods and services necessary for their production, Members 
should jointly explo re the ways to support and facilitate agricultural trade for the benefit of the 
Membership, especially least developed and developing Members, and ultimately of the entire world 
community.  
4.  In this regard, the Russian Federation suggests that the outcome do cuments should reflect the 
following:  
Trade Facilitation in Agriculture  
We recognize that the agricultural sector is sensitive to external shocks and inner deficiencies, 
and agricultural products, unlike many industrial goods, are short -lived.  
It is essen tial to minimize barriers to trade, including those in supply and settlement chains, 
in order to avoid unnecessary food losses and ensure effective and timely supplies and access 
to agricultural products around the globe, goods and services required for th eir production, 
transportation and storage, tackle uneven food distribution, provide transparent, efficient and 
predictable environment for traders and consumers in the agricultural sector.  
The above -mentioned goals can be effectively achieved through a mu ltilateral initiative on 
facilitation of trade in agricultural products. Multilateral efforts to facilitate agricultural trade 
flows should address internal and border measures that impede such flows, ensure more 
convenient and stable environment for agric ultural trade. Such efforts may include, inter alia , 
fostering efficient SPS/TBT measures implementation, improving predictability of applied JOB/GC/375 • JOB/AG/256 • JOB/TE/85  
 
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  tariffs, facilitating access to agriculture -related technologies, equipment and supporting 
services, integrating digital solutions, enhancing the regulation of the conduct of MNE that 
possess considerable market power, raising efficiency of utilizing TRQ a llocations, creating 
incentives for transport and logistic operators to ensure unconstrained export, transit and 
import of goods within the agricultural sector.  
We agree to launch our work on trade facilitation in agriculture at the WTO. To this end, we 
consider it necessary to establish a special negotiating group on Trade Facilitation in 
Agriculture that reports to the Trade Negotiations Committee. The first progress report of the 
Negotiating group shall be due by the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC1 4).  
New Agricultural Framework  
We commit to elaborate a new Agricultural Framework comprising broad parameters to guide 
the negotiations on agricultural trade issues forward. The framework shall take into account 
the current realities and contemporary tre nds, such as digital transformation and the growing 
role of services in agricultural production. Having these new parameters in mind, the primary 
goal of ensuring stable access to food and foodstuffs through unimpeded trade flows shall not 
be set aside.  
Food Security  
We recognize that the strategic goal of food security is to provide Members ' population with 
safe agricultural products and food. The guarantees of achieving this goal include stability of 
domestic production, availability of necessary stocks and reserves, as well as open and 
predictable markets.  
We agree to undertake a holistic and science -based approach to studying and addressing all 
elements of ensuring food security, including its global and national components. These may 
include, among oth er things: access to goods and services needed for ensuring stable 
domestic agricultural production; fertilizer and energy prices; unimpeded trade flows; 
'withdrawal ' of land from the agricultural sector towards biofuel production; decreased yields 
resulti ng from climate -related measures, such as reductions in the use of fertilizers. We 
recognize the vital importance of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 2 (UN 
SDG 2) and the need to end hunger, which requires lowering food prices rather than in flating 
them, increasing yields rather than constraining agricultural production, as well as ensuring 
stable food supplies unconstrained by a variety of trade restrictions.  
2  EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO FOOD INSECURITY  
5.  At MC12 Ministers adopted the Ministerial Dec laration on the Emergency Response to Food 
Insecurity of 17 June 2022. Ministers, inter alia , agreed that trade, along with domestic production, 
plays a vital role in improving global food security in all its dimensions, as well as enhancing nutrition. 
Ministers committed to take concrete steps to facilitate trade and improve the functioning and 
long-term resilience of global markets for food and agriculture, including cereals, fertilizers, and 
other agricultural production inputs.  
6.  Further discussions and deliberations undertaken in Geneva since MC12 have reflected that the 
issue of food security is complex and multidimensional, and that it is of a systemic, rather than a 
'situational ' nature. At MC12, with the aim of fulfilling the UN SDG 2, Ministers have  committed, 
among other things, to make progress towards ending hunger. This is a longstanding and a 
long-term objective, which can be achieved with the help of various means of the agricultural trading 
system. We therefore believe that the issue of food s ecurity requires not just an emergency, but a 
fully-fledged systemic multilateral response. It has to be addressed in a targeted manner, using a 
comprehensive, balanced and science -based approach where appropriate.  JOB/GC/375 • JOB/AG/256 • JOB/TE/85  
 
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  7.  In this regard, the Russian Federation su ggests that the outcome documents of MC13 should 
reflect the following:  
We underscore that the issue of food security requires a systemic response. To this end, we 
resolve to undertake a holistic and science -based approach to studying and addressing all 
elements of ensuring food security, including its global and national components.  
We agree that the issue of food security requires Members ' attention in accordance with 
approaches adopted under item [ "Food Security "] in point [4].  
3  ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CH ANGE  
8.  The Russian Federation welcomes the growing global climate change awareness and supports 
Members ' joint efforts aimed at promoting environmental protection and combating climate change. 
The Russian Federation strongly believes that measures aimed at p rotecting the environment and 
combating climate change should be cost -effective. In our view, it is necessary to ensure the balance 
between achievement of environmental, including climate, and other socio -economic development 
goals, in accordance with the principle of indivisibility of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for 
Sustainable Development.  
9.  However, nowadays the multilateral trading system faces a new risk of the policies aimed at 
increasing the competitiveness of a domestic industry under the umbrella , or even the guise, of 
environmental and climate goals – the "green " protectionism. The rise in trade -restrictive measures 
including burdensome fiscal measures implemented together with excessive amounts of state 
subsidies, introduction of technical standards and other requirements, which are not based on 
sufficient scienc e, lead to artificial substitution of established industries by new so -called "green " 
ones. Such substitution does not occur due to the competitive advantage of "green " industries over 
the traditional ones, but rather due to above -mentioned state imposed p olicies.   
10.  The growth of trade protectionism under the pretext of environmental protection and combating 
climate change creates the risk of the multilateral trading system fragmentation, as well as 
disruption of both supply chains and global markets. As a result, many Members, especially 
developing and least developed ones, will be partially deprived of their incomes, which could have 
been spent on the modernization of production processes and other environmental and climate 
measures.  
11.  The proliferation and uncontrolled growth of various forms of "green " subsidies could eventually 
lead to overfinancing and a consequential "subsidy race ", ultimately widening the gap between 
developed and developing countries, especially the least develope d ones. If this trend remains, 
Members may find themselves in a situation where competition opportunities in certain sectors would 
be limited to the volume of subsidies provided to a domestic producer. Restricted technology transfer 
between the countries w ould further exacerbate this widening gap between Members. This, in turn, 
will significantly slow down or completely block the achievement of global environmental and climate 
goals, leading to the world 's fragmentation into an exclusive club of technologic ally developed 
countries and the rest of the world.  
12.  The Russian Federation points out that the multilateral environmental and climate agreements, 
including the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, provide for, among other things, the inadmissibility 
of establis hing measures which constitute means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a 
disguised restriction on international trade, cooperation in development and technology transfer.  
13.  In this regard, the Russian Federation suggests that the outcome docume nts should reflect the 
following:  
Environment and climate change  
We agree that there is a need to promote and strengthen the multilateral response to address 
global environmental challenges, such as climate change, in a manner consistent with the 
WTO rules  and the existing multilateral environmental and climate agreements, including the 
UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement.   JOB/GC/375 • JOB/AG/256 • JOB/TE/85  
 
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  We reaffirm our commitment laid down in the Preamble to the WTO Agreement. We also 
recognize the role the WTO can play in contributing to th e achievement of the  UN 2030 Agenda 
for Sustainable Development and Sustainable Development Goals in their economic, social, 
environmental and climate dimensions, in so far as they relate to the WTO mandate and in a 
manner consistent with the respective ne eds and concerns of Members at different levels of 
economic development.  
We recognize that unilateral trade restrictive measures adopted with the aim of addressing 
global environmental and climate goals, including the large -scale "green " subsidies, create a 
risk of the multilateral trading system fragmentation, promotion of protectionism, market 
distortions and  further widening the gap between developed and developing countries, 
especially the least developed ones.  
While implementing our environmental polic ies we commit to abstain from introducing 
protectionist and trade -distortive measures, as well as market distortive subsidies, which are 
not consistent with the WTO Agreement and international environmental and climate 
agreements. We acknowledge that a  stable and predictable trading environment, as well as 
unrestricted access to modern technologies can play a major role in achieving environmental 
and climate goals.   
In this regard, we agree to intensify the negotiations in the Committee on Trade and 
Environ ment (CTE) aimed at enhancing the multilateral response to environmental and climate 
change within the framework of the CTE 's mandate, established in paragraph 31 of the Doha 
Ministerial Declaration.   
4  RESPONSE TO THE COVID -19 PANDEMIC AND PREPAREDNESS FOR THE FUTURE 
PANDEMICS  
14.  At the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12) Ministers adopted the Ministerial Declaration 
оn the WTO Response to the C OVID -19 Pandemic and Preparedness for Future Pandemics of 
17 June 2022. Ministers, inter alia , affirmed the need to review and build on all the lessons learned 
and the challenges experienced during the COVID -19 pandemic, to build effective solutions in case 
of future pandemics, and agreed to undertake yearly reviews of the progress in implementing the 
Declaratio n until the end of 2024.  
15.  Nevertheless, no respective progress has been achieved so far that could clearly indicate an 
advancement in the implementation of this Ministerial Decision. In particular, there is a strong need 
to identify the interplay between th e WTO rules and mandate and those of other international 
organizations, whose activities influence international trade. Clear and rapid responses in line with 
the already existing multilateral rules are particularly important in times of pandemics and othe r 
global emergencies.  
16.  In this regard, the Russian Federation suggests that the outcome documents of MC13 should 
reflect the following:  
We underscore the importance of ensuring the coherency of international trade arrangements 
developed in various internati onal trade -related organizations and in the WTO. With that in 
mind, we, as participants of such international organizations, will take appropriate steps to 
ensure that such arrangements are consistent with the WTO rules. We intend to discuss short 
track pr ocedures aimed at facilitating market access for supplies needed to deal with 
pandemics and other emergencies.  
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