JOB/AG/91  
 
19 May 2017  
(17-2723) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Agriculture  
Special Session  Original: English  
 
THE CAIRNS GROUP 'S OBJECTIVES FOR MC1 1 AND BEYOND  
COMMUN ICATION BY THE CAIRNS  GROUP  
The following communication, dated 17 May 2017, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Australia on behalf of the Cairns Group . 
 
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1.   The Cair ns Group ( www.cairnsgroup.org ) is a coalition of 19 agricultural exporting countries 
which account for over 25 % of the world' s agricultural exports, 12 % of world economic output and 
17% of the global population. C airns Group members are particularly reliant on trade in agriculture 
and food for sustainable economic growth and development. Distortions to production and trade in 
agriculture and food harm farmers that rely on trade – especially those in developing and least 
developed countries. It is in this context that the Cairns Group lays out its broad objectives on 
agriculture for MC11 and beyond.  
2.   This paper is without prejudice to specific proposals that may be developed on one or more 
elements of the agricultural  negotiations for MC11 and beyond.   
OBJECTIVES FOR MC11 AND BEYOND  
Domestic Support  
 
3.   There is overwhelming support for an outcome on domestic support at MC11. The Cairns 
Group notes the wealth of valuable analysis and effort already put into framing and i nforming an 
outcome on domestic support, including recent papers from the LDC Group (JOB/AG/90) , the ACP 
group (JOB/AG/87) and several Cairns Group members (JOB/AG/72 and Add.1).1  
4.   The outcomes we achieve in negotiations on domestic support at MC11 and be yond must 
contain the following elements.  
i. All production and trade -distorting domestic support must be subject to greater 
scrutiny with a view to further advancing the reform process . 
 
5.   Domestic support that distorts prices, encourages over -supply, and incr eases global market 
volatility, is bad for farmers and global consumers. This heavily impacts developing countries. 
Unable to compete with the massive levels of expenditure provided by some larger economies and 
subsidized exporters, farmers in developing a nd least developed countries suffer most from 
reduced prices and lost export markets.  
6.   For this reason, all forms of production and trade -distorting support must be subject to greater 
scrutiny, with a view to further advancing the reform process.  
ii. Discipline s on production and trade -distorting domestic support must have a 
constraining impact.   
 
                                                
1 Submission by Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.  JOB/AG/91  
 
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  7.   Limits must not be set at artificially high levels and must meaningfully reduce the massive 
entitlements we see today. At present the entitlements of just nine major Members allow for over 
US$625 billion of trade -distorting domestic support.2 Ultimately, there must be a tangible impact 
on the level of expenditure that may be made on trade -distorting domestic support.  
iii. Product specific concentration of support must be ad dressed.  
 
8.   Product specific support, particularly by large agricultural producers and large agricultural 
exporters has a negative impact on the prices received by all farmers worldwide. Excessive 
concentrations of product specific support  continue to impac t world market prices for a range of 
goods, many of which are of great importance to developing and least developed countries, 
including rice, sugar, dairy, wheat, soybeans, beef and cotton.   
9.   Domestic support negotiations must address these product specif ic concentrations of support. 
Initially, disciplines may be applied to products that matter the most to developing and least 
developed Members, before being extended across all products.  
10.   Cotton in particular needs to remain a focus. The Cairns Group suppor ts the LDC Group 's call 
(JOB/AG/90) that negotiations must lead to a significant reduction, with a view to total elimination, 
of all types of domestic support that have distorting effects on the cotton market.  
Market Access  
 
11.   Negotiations on market access m ust continue at MC11 and beyond in pursuit of tangible 
outcomes that result in substantial progressive reductions in protection. Ultimately, market access 
outcomes must level the playing field for agricultural products versus all other goods in world 
trade . Average tariffs on agricultural products remain more than eight times higher than tariffs on 
industrial products; and tariffs of more than 300 % are not uncommon.  
12.   We should look to make incremental, yet substantive steps on market access for MC11, 
includ ing technical work and examining existing entitlements, in order to help us launch into 
substantive negotiations on remaining market access issues  for future m inisterial  meetings . 
Export Competition  
 
13.   The Nairobi Ministerial Decision on Export Competition ( WT/MIN(15)/45), represents a 
significant and historic achievement for the WTO. The elimination of export subsidies was a 
longstanding negotiating objective for the Cairns Group and many other WTO Members. The 
Decision demonstrated that agreements on meanin gful new disciplines on trade -distorting 
practices continue to be possible. This decision should be used as a stepping stone to further 
strengthen disciplines on export competition, and in particular on export credits.  
14.   In that regard, the Cairns Group rea ffirms its commitment to the continuation of the 
negotiations under this pillar and the triennial review process put forward by para . 5 of the Nairobi 
Ministerial Decision  on Export Competition ( WT/MIN(15)/45).  
Greater compliance with notification requirem ents 
 
15.   Greater efforts need to be done to comply with the notification requirements of the 
Agreement on Agriculture and relevant Ministerial Decisions across the three pillars. Nonetheless, 
the situation is particularly grave concerning domestic support. Ac cording to the latest report by 
the Secretariat (G/AG/GEN/86/Rev.27) there are over 800 outstanding domestic support 
notifications. The lack of timely, complete and accurate notifications on domestic support is 
frustrating our ability to review compliance and undermining confidence in the multilateral trading 
system.  
                                                
2 Calculated as the de minimis , and AMS entitlements of Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the 
European  Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, and the United States, calculated using the Australian Permanent 
Mission Domestic Support Calculator, available at: 
http://geneva.mission.gov.au/gene/ AgriculturalTradeDistortingSupportCalculator.html . JOB/AG/91  
 
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  Special and Differential Treatment  
 
16.   The Cairns Group reaffirms that the principle of special and differential treatment for 
developing countries, including least developed countries, must remai n integral to all negotiations. 
The framework for trade reforms must continue to support the economic development needs, 
including technical assista nce requirements, of these WTO M embers . 
PURSUIT OF MINISTERIAL DECISIONS  
17.   The Cairns Group notes the Minister ial Decisions of 7 December 2013 (WT/MIN(13) /38) and 
19 December 2015 (WT/MIN(15)/44) and the General Council Decision of 27 November 2014 
(WT/L/939) regarding Public Stockholding for Food Security Purposes; and the Minist erial Decision 
of 19 December 2015  (WT/MIN(15)/43) regarding the Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM) for 
Developing Countries. The Cairns Group will continue to engage constructively to negotiate on an 
SSM for developing country Members; and a permanent solution on the issue of public 
stockh olding for food security purposes.  
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