WT/MIN(22)/ST/29  
12 June 2022  
(22-4465) Page: 1/2 
Ministerial Conference  
Twelfth Session  
Geneva, 12-15 June  2022 Original: Spanish  
 
STATEMENT BY H.E. MR SANTIAGO ANDRÉS CAFIERO  
MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS, INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND RELIGION  
ARGENTINA  
It is my privilege to share with you Argentina's view on the topics to be addressed at the Twelfth 
Ministerial Conference of the WTO.  
More than four after the last Conference was held in Buenos Aires, it was essential of us to be able 
to finally hold this meeting.  
Two and a half years after the start of the pandemic, COVID -19 has caused and continues to cause 
serious economic and social damage, especially in developing countries, which, among other things, 
suffer from a shortage of the vaccines that were mostly concentrated in a few countries.  
In Argentina, substantial progress was made in vaccinations following a  major effort by the whole 
of society, through the continuous search for available vaccines and Argentine companies' 
involvement in the production process, together with other international firms.   
It was an arduous and complex task. The need to implement  changes to meet the pressing global 
demand was evident. In this regard, I would like to highlight the work of all WTO Members in the 
pursuit of consensus on intellectual property rights flexibility for access to vaccines. While we believe 
that this is a s olution that should have been reached earlier, we hope that the lessons learned as a 
result of COVID -19 will enable us to tackle future challenges with more solidarity and on a more 
unified front.  
To that end, we have a duty to work in the appropriate are as so that trade rules will be responsive 
to future pandemics, not only with regard to intellectual property, but also technology transfer and 
financing in order to build productive capacities in different parts of the world.  
On top of this harsh reality t hat is still oppressing us, we must now add the serious consequences 
of the war in Ukraine and its impact on agri -food markets and global food security, at a time when 
the world is still far from reaching zero hunger.  
Argentina once again urges the Russian  Federation to cease immediately the use of force, and it 
condemns the invasion of Ukraine and the military operations on its territory. We express our deep 
concern over the serious deterioration in the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, with hundreds of 
thousands of displaced persons and refugees. We stress the importance of respecting the primacy 
of international law and of complying with all the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.  
Recent reports by FAO and other agencies have warned of a cri sis that could have severe 
humanitarian consequences, owing to the excessive price volatility of some foodstuffs and market 
disruption for some products, such as fertilizers.  
Argentina shares the concerns about the overall impact of the current situation o n international food 
security and stands ready to play its role as a global producer and exporter of nutritious and 
high-quality food.  WT/MIN(22)/ST/29  
 
- 2 - 
 
  I would like to point out that during the last wheat harvest in Argentina, production increased 
significantly, up from 17  million tonnes in 2020/21 to 22 million tonnes in the harvest season that 
ended a few weeks ago.  
This has an impact on our exports, which increased from 10.6 million tonnes in 2020 to 12.2 million 
tonnes in 2021, and closing the agricultural year in the f irst months of this year with over 14 million 
tonnes exported.  
In other words, Argentina, as a producer and exporter of food, is making its contribution to food 
security in the current crisis by stepping up production and exports, in this case, of wheat.  
Against the backdrop of growing global concern, we note that di scussions are not focusing on the 
most important issues that need to be addressed in order to find a solution to food security. 
Agricultural trade is historically the most distorted sector, in particular as a result of distorting 
subsidies that do not allo w efficient producer countries to invest in their food systems and thereby 
increase production and revitalize the international agricultural market.  
Globally, agricultural subsidies currently amount to around USD 540 billion a year, which is 
equivalent to  15% of the total value of agricultural production. This support is heavily skewed 
towards measures that distort the agricultural market, leading to inefficiency, is distributed 
unevenly, and is harmful to the environment and human health.  
In this regard,  I would like to recall that over 25 years ago, under the Agreement on Agriculture, all 
Members made a commitment to move forward in the process of agricultural trade reform "to 
establish a fair and market -oriented agricultural trading system", with the ob jective of providing for 
"substantial progressive reductions" in agricultural support and protection.  
Almost 30 years later, agricultural trade remains unfairly stalled in multilateral negotiations, harming 
the credibility and ability of the WTO to deliver  effective solutions to international trade. Now is the 
time to rapidly reverse this unfair situation.  
For an agricultural exporting country like Argentina, it is very difficult to compete in a world where 
agricultural trade lacks the regulations found in  other sectors, which serve to level the playing field.  
This phrase, "level the playing field", which is now repeated in various forums, must necessarily 
apply to agricultural trade and not just industrial products if we want a fair and equitable 
internat ional trading system for all, leaving no one behind.   
I wish to reaffirm that Argentina attaches particular importance to the multilateral trading system, 
with the WTO at its centre. We will continue to work constructively to address new challenges and 
also to resolve long -standing development issues pending from the Doha Round.  
Similarly, at this Ministerial Conference we have the historic opportunity to reach an agreement on 
fisheries subsidies. Argentina has been suffering from the effects of the subsi dies granted to large 
fleets that fish unchecked in the zone adjacent to our exclusive economic zone. We hope that all 
Members will demonstrate flexibility to reach the necessary consensus.  
Lastly, I would like to express my country's strong support for a  frank negotiation on the reform of 
the WTO, to bring it up to date with the new reality of world trade. This should be done by 
implementing and prioritizing the negotiation of mandates that remain outstanding.  
We have some long working days ahead of us t hat I hope will be fruitful and allow us to reach 
agreements to the benefit of all. We owe it to our societies to give clear and strong responses at this 
Conference and we will only achieve this objective by strengthening our commitments to 
cooperation, wo rking together and international solidarity.  
__________