WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/L/608 
6 April 2005 
 (05-1392) 
 Original:   English 
  
 
CAIRNS GROUP CARTAGENA DECLARATION 
 
Communication from Australia and Colombia
 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 1 April 2005, from the Delegations of Australia and 
Colombia, is being circulated to Members. 
 
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CAIRNS GROUP CARTAGENA DECLARATION 
(Text of the Cairns Group Ministerial Declaration adopted on 1 April 2005  
at the conclusion of the 27
th Ministerial Meeting of the Cairns Group held  
in Cartagena on 30 March to 1 April 2005) 
  
1. The moment has arrived in this Round to face up to the difficult decisions required to bring 
about a fairer trading environment for the world’s farmers. 
2. The Cairns Group has put agriculture at the centr e of this Round and we will ensure that a 
significant result is achieved.  We reiterate that there can be no successful outcome to the Doha 
Round without a substantial package of reforms in agriculture.  Agriculture has waited long enough.  
Today, more than ever, the discrimination against agriculture must end. 
3. The Sixth Ministerial Meeting of the WTO in Ho ng Kong will be critical to advancing this 
goal. 
4. We have committed ourselves to achieving agreem ent on modalities for agriculture by this 
time and to this end have agreed to in tensify our engagement in coming months. 
5. Cairns Group Ministers will apply the same level of ambition we have applied since the outset 
of these negotiations.  We seek the elimination of all forms of export subsidies, substantial reductions 
in trade-distorting domestic support, and substan tial improvements in market access opportunities for 
all products. 
6. We are concerned that some in the WTO membership appear to be attracted to moving away 
from the level of ambition we agreed at the outset  of this Round.  That would be a perilous 
development.  A lowering of the agreed level of ambition in agriculture would risk unravelling the 
success of the entire Doha agenda. 
7. Reforms agreed in this Round must deliver real cuts in subsidies and protection to ensure our 
farmers see genuine change on world markets.  This result will be particularly important for 
developing countries. WT/L/608 
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 8. Now is the time to deliver on that promise. 
9. We have identified the following as essential elem ents of our approach to the negotiations in 
the lead up to Hong Kong. 
10. We welcome the agreement achieved in the July  Decision on the elimination of all forms of 
export subsidies, given their pernicious effects on ag ricultural markets.  Ministers recalled the Cairns 
Group's position, in 2002, for developed countries to  phase out their export subsidies in a period as 
short as possible. 
11. We have long argued that the billions of dollars  poured into farm support programs by rich 
governments undermine the prospects of efficient,  unsubsidised, producers – particularly in 
developing countries.  Our level of  ambition is clear: in order to be  substantial, reductions to trade-
distorting domestic support must cut significantly in to the current spending levels of the major 
developed countries. 
12. Special and differential treatment for de minimis support must acknowledge that developing 
countries often allocate their limited entitlements to  subsistence and resource-poor farmers and do not 
have the capacity to compete in farm subsidy wa rs.  Developing countries that allocate almost all de 
minimis  support for subsistence and resource-poor farmers will be exempt from reduction. 
13. We will not settle for an outcome that would weaken the current architecture for domestic 
support or allow trade-distorting support for any prod uct to increase.  Criteria for the Green Box must 
ensure that these measures have no, or at most minimal, trade-distorting effects or effects on 
production.  Similarly, Blue Box criteria must ensure that these payments are truly less trade-distorting than Amber Box measures. 
14. Concrete improvements in market access must pass the same benchmark test of making a 
difference to the lives of our farmers.  We will not  allow market access to once again escape serious 
reform.  As agreed in the July Decision, refo rms to market access must provide substantial new 
opportunities for all products in all markets. 
15. The tiered tariff reduction formula will be the key to ensuring this Round delivers new trade 
flows including by tackling tariff peaks and tariff escal ation.  We will ensure that we achieve the 
Framework's requirement of s ubstantial improvement in access for sensitive products, through 
combinations of tariff reducti ons and tariff quota expansion. 
16. The Cairns Group has contributed significantly to efforts to find a way forward on the issue of 
converting non-ad valorem tariffs to their ad valo rem equivalents.  We urge all Members to make 
similar contributions.  We are disappointed that desp ite our efforts, and the fl exibility we have shown, 
the issue has yet to be resolved.  Equally, we will not compromise on the need to ensure integrity in 
that process. 
17. We reaffirm the importance for many WTO Members, especially least developed countries, 
of tangible results from the initiative on cotton and the urgent need to address this issue in accordance 
with the July Framework. 
18. A strong outcome in the Doha Round provides the best guarantee for developing countries 
that food security will not be undermined, and the b est possible climate for sustainable development, 
including to address poverty alleviation and the pa rticular development concerns of their rural 
populations.  Special and differential treatment, in cluding the concepts of the Special Safeguard 
Mechanism and Special Products, will be essential to  assist developing countries to best adapt to  WT/L/608 
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 liberalization.  Special and differential treatment s hould be designed in such a way as to facilitate the 
continued growth in trade of agricultural products. 
19. In line with paragraph 43 of the Framework text , we reiterate our commitment to achieve the 
fullest liberalization of trade in tropical agricultura l products and for products of particular importance 
to the diversification of production fr om the growing of illicit narcotic crops. 
20. Ministers also recognized the needs and concer ns of small and vulnerable economies must be 
addressed during this negotiation according to paragr aph 35 of the Doha mandate without creating a 
sub-category of Members. 
21. We urge all WTO Members to avoid implemen ting or re-introducing any trade-distorting 
measures against the spirit of the liberalizing objectives of the Doha Round, especially any new 
export subsidies. 
22. The period leading up to Hong Kong will require the leadership of the Cairns Group and of 
many in the WTO community.  We will work closel y with other groups to achieve our goals.  We 
call, in particular, on all WTO Members which are res ponsible for the distortions in global agriculture 
to show leadership.  This leadership must begi n by accepting that a fairer environment for global 
agriculture will require significant changes to their domestic and trade policy settings. 
23. Our meeting in Cartagena has benefited from constructive discussions with our colleagues 
from the United States (Secretary of Agriculture, Mr Mike Johanns), the European Communities 
(Agriculture Commissioner, Ms Mariann Fisher Boel), Kenya (Minister of Trade and Industry, 
Dr Mukhisa Kituyi), and negotiating Chair, Ambassador Tim Groser. 
24. We have also appreciated the presence in Cart agena of the Cairns Group Farm Leaders, the 
Global Dairy Alliance and the Global Sugar Alliance, and their statements of strong support for the 
Group’s positions in the negotiations. 
25. We wish to express our appreciation to Ministers Botero and Arias and the Colombian 
Government for their generosity and hospitality in hosting the 27th Ministerial Meeting of the Cairns 
Group. 
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