WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/AG/GEN/77 
WT/COMTD/68 
WT/COMTD/LDC/14 
11 November 2008 
 (08-5420) 
Committee on Agriculture 
Committee on Trade and Development Sub-Committee on Least-Developed Countries Original:   English 
 
  
REPORT ON THE CONFERENCE ON WTO RULES AND THE FOOD CRISIS 
IN THE LDCS 
 
Communication from Lesotho on behalf of the LDC Group
 
   The following communication has been received from the Delegation of Lesotho on behalf of 
the LDC Group. 
 
_______________ 
 
 
I. GENERAL 
1. In light of the current food crisis, affected  countries are implementing measures aimed at 
addressing the plight of the vulnerable and suffering populations.  In this context, policy responses 
have also emanated from the relevant organisations  and from the internationa l financial institutions 
(IFIs) at the bilateral, regi onal and multilateral levels.  
2. The LDCs are the most challenged by these events and are struggling to put into place 
mechanisms, frameworks and policy me asures to tackle the food crisis and to shield their countries 
from the socio-political difficulties that the situation is creating.  Some LDCs have already been hard 
hit by violent public protests that have often resulted in serious casualties.  
3. Against this background, the LDC Group in th e WTO organised a "Policy Reflection" on the 
food crisis in Geneva on 17 July 2008 in pa rtnership with the Centre for Socio-Eco-Nomic 
Development (CSEND), a research and development or ganisation focusing on global issues, under its 
Trade Policy and Governance Programme (TPG P) and Diplomacy Dialogue (CSEND/TPGP, 
www.csend.org
). 
4. The objective of the event was to provide an organised forum for the WTO and development 
community and relevant stakeholders – government  officials, negotiators, experts, academics and 
private sector representatives – to reflect on existi ng mechanisms and solutions under the framework 
of the multilateral trading system to cope with th e food crisis.  It was hoped that the event would 
generate ideas and information useful to discussions  on the measures that could be taken at national 
and regional levels. G/AG/GEN/77 
WT/COMTD/68 WT/COMTD/LDC/14 
Page 2 
  
  5. The basis for the discussions was provided by a Concept Paper on "The implications of trends 
in food production and of trade rules on agricu lture on food security for all", prepared by the 
CSEND/TPGP.
1  
6. Topics addressed by the conference included: 
• Do the WTO rules constitute impediments? Or do they provide basis for solutions to the food 
crisis? 
 
• What policy responses are the LDCs undertaking to face the food crisis? 
 
• What responses can we get from a technology-based monitoring system? 
 
• What are the non-trade solutions? 
 
• What are the specific actions to be taken at the national, regional, bilateral and multilateral 
levels? 
 7. Conference facilities were generously provided by  the Geneva Centre for Security and Peace 
(GCSP) and H.E. Ambassador Professor Fred Tanner,  Director of GCSP gave the welcoming address 
to the delegates and presented his organisation to th e public.  He also indicated that GCSP is strongly 
interested in the food crisis issue as it encompass ed many systemic links with security, peace and 
human rights, which are at the core of the GCSP mandate and work. 
8. Dr. Raymond Saner, Director, CSEND and Dipl omacy Dialogue delivered a keynote address 
touching on the core elements underlying the food cris is.  He also set out the fundamental questions to 
be addressed via constructive dialogue.  The meeting was timely as the WTO was hosting from 
21 July 2008, a mini-ministerial meeti ng aimed at stimulating discussion on the Doha Development 
Agenda (DDA) with a view to securing a positive conclu sion.  Noting that the "train has not yet 
departed", he advised the LDCs to avail themselv es of this timely opportunity for devising relevant 
proposals to be submitted to the Chairman of the agriculture negotiations. 
9. The conference was chaired by H.E. Ambas sador Dr. Mothae A. Maruping, Permanent 
Representative of Lesotho to the UNO/WTO and Coor dinator for the LDC Group in the WTO.  He 
stressed elements related to the food crisis, in particular:  
• Considerable social strains and unrest resulting from the food crisis 
• Population growth that is increasing demand for food 
• Wasted food in developed countries which suggest ed that available food is not being used 
optimally 
• Poor storage and inefficient distribution systems  
• Speculation in commodity markets that is driving up the price of food products 
• Problems caused by climate change 
• Most farmers are still dependent on rain-fed agri culture which underlined the importance of 
climate change 
                                                     
 
1 "The implications of trends in food production and of trade rules on agriculture on food security for 
all", CSEND/TPGP, also for other ppt presentations and papers presented during the conference see: 
http://www.csend.org/Annoucements.aspx?id=40   G/AG/GEN/77 
 WT/COMTD/68 
 WT/COMTD/LDC/14 
 Page 3 
  
  • Criticism of the liberalization of policies and structural adjustment programs that had failed to 
produce growth and yet restricted the range of policy measures that countries could employ to address the food crisis 
• Food aid is welcome but in the mean time medium to long term solutions should be 
developed in the meantime 
• What could the WTO offer? 
• Subsidies in developed countries are harmful to LDCs 
• Supply side constraints need to be removed 
• Markets should be opened to least developed a nd developing countries to provide them with 
incentives to produce more 
 10. The conference was divided into two sessions: 
• Session 1 – Mapping the food crisis in the LDCs: Factors and Trends , was chaired by 
H.E. Dr. Bhattacharya, Ambassador, Perman ent Representative of Bangladesh in the WTO 
and dealt with three presentations on the following topics: 
 
o Food security:  Are trade rules a problem or a way forward ?  This topic was 
introduced by DR Christian Haeberli, Senior Consultant at the Swiss National Centre 
of Competence in Research (NCCR) and Pr ofessor at the World Trade Institute 
(WTI); 
 
o Food crisis seen from a LDC perspective , by Mr. Jean Claude Pierre, Minister 
Counsellor and Chargé d’Affaires at the Permanent Mission of Haiti to the UNO/WTO; 
 
o Food security and Early Warning:  Scenario seen from the Technology-Based 
Monitoring System Perspective , by Mr. Claude Heimo,  Managing Director, 
Environment-Ecology-Forestry of Switzerland. 
 
• Session 2 - Food Security: Future Scenarios , chaired by H.E. Professor Arsene Balihuta, 
Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Uga nda in the WTO and H.E. Ambassador Fisseha 
Yimer of Ethiopia. Presentations included: 
 
o Will free trade solve the food crisis?  Sce narios seen from the international trade 
arrangement perspective, by Carine Smaller, Trade Information Project, Institute for 
Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), Geneva; 
 
o How can WTO Rules and Regulations contri bute to food security?  Scenarios seen 
from a LDC perspective, by Mr. Mbaye Ndiaye, First Counsellor, Permanent Mission 
of Senegal to the UNO/WTO; 
 
o Vers une nouvelle stratégie de développement, by H.E. Mr. Jean Feyder, Ambassador, 
Permanent Representative of Luxembourg to the WTO; 
 
o
 How can WTO rules and regulations contribut e to food security: Scenarios seen from 
the agricultural sector perspective?, by Mr. Peter RALF, UNCTAD. 
 G/AG/GEN/77 
WT/COMTD/68 WT/COMTD/LDC/14 
Page 4 
  
  11. The participants to the meeting included: 
• Geneva-based Ambassadors and Representatives of LDCs and other WTO Member countries; 
• delegates from the Geneva missions; 
• representatives of a number of international organizations; 
• representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs); 
• representative of the academic institutions; 
• staff members of CSEND, Diplomacy Dialogue and the TPGP. 
 
12. Dr. Lichia Yiu, President, CSEND, acted as th e Co-Coordinator of the conference together 
with Mr. Eloi Laourou, Second Counsellor, Perm anent Mission of Benin to the UNO/WTO.  Three 
rapporteurs were responsible for presenting thematic  summaries of the presentations, which formed 
the basis for recommendations at the close of the conference: 
• Rapporteur for Session 1:  Mrs. Peggy Mlewa, Fi rst Secretary, Permanent Mission of Zambia 
to the UNO/WTO, Acting Focal Point for Agricu lture negotiations in the LDCs Group in the 
WTO; 
 
• Rapporteur for Session 2:  Mr. Eloi Laourou,  Second Counsellor, Permanent Mission of 
Benin to the UNO/WTO, co-Coordinator of the conference; 
 
• General Rapporteur: Dr. Falou Samb, Trade Policy Analyst and Regional Coordinator for 
Africa, TPGP, CSEND, Geneva. 
 
II. DO THE WTO RULES CONSTITUTE IMPEDIMENTS OR DO THEY PROVIDE 
BASIS FOR SOLUTIONS TO THE FOOD CRISIS? 
13. The delegates to the conference discussed at length the question of whether the trade rules 
and, in particular, the WTO Agreements and provi sions provided a sound basis for solving the food 
crisis.  In this regard, differing views were express ed on the role that the WTO could play to assist 
LDCs.  The presentations articulated a variety of fact ors and analysis pertaining to the food crisis.  
Notably some presentations highlighted that further liberalization of agricultural products may worsen 
the crisis.  This was mainly due to the treme ndous trade distortions created by developed country 
agricultural subsidies. 
14. WTO provisions that are relevant to the subj ect of food crisis were identified as follows: 
tariffs, including the issue of tariff escalation; saf eguards; three pillars of the Agreement on 
Agriculture (AoA) and negotiati ons (domestic support, market access and export competition); 
exports restrictions under GATT Artic le XI:2; and special products.  
15. A number of presentations highlighted that th e current draft text on agriculture under the 
Doha Development Round ne gotiations reflected little if any atten tion to addressing the issue of food 
crisis.  Actually, several presentations stressed that  existing flexibilities by which policymakers might 
address the food crisis, would be curtailed under the current draft text.  Measures should be taken to 
further strengthen the ability of the LDCs to contro l imports, particularly subsidized ones, under the 
DDA negotiations.  
16. Some delegates pointed out financial speculati on as a major source of distortion.  Studies 
from both the FAO and UNCTAD had identified specu lation as an important source of volatility in 
food prices, which had increased drastically since 2000.   G/AG/GEN/77 
 WT/COMTD/68 
 WT/COMTD/LDC/14 
 Page 5 
  
  17. The DDA should establish flexibility in regard to  agricultural tariffs for food security and 
allow LDCs to develop appropriate food security sch emes, but not via "one size fits all" solution. 
18. Against this background, the views were e xpressed in the confer ence that WTO rules 
included both solutions and obstacles to addressing  the food crisis.  WTO rules are part of the 
solution, but could not function to solve the food cris is in the absence of cohe rence with a variety of 
measures at different levels.  Elements of a "holistic " policy approach to the food crisis might include 
the following: 
• The LDCs should shift their macroeconomic  policies towards supporting more vigorous 
agricultural-led policies.  Where appropriate , these policy approaches should aim towards 
self-sufficiency in food products.  This contrasts with the prescriptions followed under the 
Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs), under wh ich large cuts in agricultural subsidies and 
tariffs combined with heavily subsidised food imports severely reduced agricultural production in a number of LDCs. 
 
o DDA negotiations need to consider carefu lly the negative impacts of subsidies in 
developed countries on food production in de veloping countries.  A strong correlation 
exists between agricultural subsidy levels in developed countries, volatility in prices 
for agricultural products, and the ability of developing countries to develop 
sustainable productive capacities; 
 
• Developed country markets s hould be opened to food exports  from LDCs and developing 
countries as a means to support their development of agricultural capacity. 
 
o The Decision on Net Food Importing Developing Countries (NFIDCs) must be 
strengthened such that it is effective in d ealing with "food crisis-plagued LDCs".  If 
need be, a separate – effective – inst rument must result from the Doha Round 
negotiations.  Two-thirds of developing c ountries are net importers of food and LDCs 
account for 40 out of the 49 countries comprising the NFIDCs.  In this regard, compensation schemes would need to be implemented for NFIDCs and particularly the LDCs among them; 
 
o The food crisis and the current responses from all levels must be ma de more coherent.  
Policy mechanisms must be reinforced or created to support coherence; 
 
o The LDCs should benefit from a waiver and/or an exemption from all export 
restrictions on food products .  This would give LDCs the ability to feed their 
populations over the short and medium term, especially the most vulnerable; 
 
o All current food aid programmes and capacity-b uilding schemes must be structured to 
support the ability of LDCs to cope with  the food crisis in the short term and to 
develop sustainable agricultural capacity in  the medium and long term.  Initiatives 
such as the “Aid for Trade”, “Enhanced Integrated Framework” are the primary 
targets of this shift in allocations of resources for the LDCs.  
 G/AG/GEN/77 
WT/COMTD/68 WT/COMTD/LDC/14 
Page 6 
  
  III. WHAT POLICY RESPONSES ARE THE LDCS UNDERTAKING TO FACE THE 
FOOD CRISIS? 
19. The Representative from Haiti gave a resounding d escription on his country's situation, the 
magnitude of the crisis and on the policy respon ses undertaken so far, with the assistance from the 
international community.  Elemen ts he touched on included: 
• The fact of self-sufficiency in food producti on collapsed in the 80s after the implementation 
of the Structural Adjustment Programme  made Haiti dependent  on food imports; 
• Identification of the vulnerable groups of the populations that are most affected; 
• Elaboration of insurance, risks and credit schem es to assist the local and small-scale farmers 
to cope with the deficiencies from the food crisis; 
• Emergency measures to provide short-term relief to the most vulnerable populations; 
• Development of early warning systems on food security; 
• Measures for price stabilisation and support in favour of most affected populations. 
 
IV. WHAT RESPONSES CAN WE GET FROM A TECHNOLOGY-BASED 
MONITORING SYSTEM? 
20. Technology can contribute to alerting the public to potential food shortages and a number of 
countries had systems in place prior to the food crisis , which had yielded such predictions.  However, 
the warnings did not elicit any relevant responses fr om the politicians despite such clear reading of 
coming events by the specialists.  Efforts are continuing to refine a “ Food Security and Famine Early 
Warning System ”, to enhance it reliability.  An early wa rning process should provide information to 
countries so they can take action to avoid or minimize the risk of famine.  
• Data collection to monitor people's access to food so that it can signal when people's access to 
food is becoming more difficult; 
• System implementation should cover three rele vant actions on early warning: forecast and 
prediction, warning and reaction; 
• Warning systems should provide information on possible impact on people and infrastructure; 
• Satellite monitoring of environmental changes have  not yet been effectively used to measure 
food security indicators; 
• Use multi-sensor, multi-skill, multi-timing informa tion to provide information to continental 
level and at the regional level and at the national level and then at the local level to determine 
floods, droughts, cloud cover, etc. 
 
V. WHAT ARE THE NON-TRADE SOLUTIONS AND THE SPECIFIC ACTIONS TO 
BE TAKEN AT THE NATIONAL, REGIONAL, BILATERAL AND 
MULTILATERAL LEVELS? 
21. Trade is just part of the solution but not n ecessarily a major part of the solution. National 
development strategies are the most important factor in designing solutions to the food crisis.  In this 
context, LDCs should reinstate agriculture as a key basis for development frameworks.  A key 
element of their success will reside in removing suppl y side constraints.  LDCs must be enabled to 
apply public expenditures to support their farm ers to expand production in light of volatile 
international agricultural price fluctuations.  Food  aid is welcome but it should be delivered in a 
manner that supports and does not damage the develo pment of agricultural capacity in the long term.  
In this respect food aid must be accompanied by co ncomitant policies to support the development of 
agricultural capacity, particularly where the potentia l exists for competitive agricultural production.  G/AG/GEN/77 
 WT/COMTD/68 
 WT/COMTD/LDC/14 
 Page 7 
  
  22. Globally 850 million people suffer from malnutriti on and hunger.  The current food crisis has 
added 100 million more.  How will this figure ch ange?  The UN Millennium Development Goals 
(MDGs) include ambitious goals for poverty alleviation by 2015.  How will the food crisis affect 
conditions for attaining them? 
23. It should not be forgotten that even where food production is adequate, infrastructure to 
deliver the food can be a key hindrance to alleviating malnutrition.  In this context, improvements in 
trade-facilitation as envisaged under the DDA coul d be particularly important for LDCs. 
24. The participants in the confer ence discussed the following issues: 
• The relationship between food supply and th e fact that bio-fuels are reducing food 
availability; 
• The use of the existing financing and compensa tion mechanisms from the IFIs, in particular 
from the IMF facility; 
• The importance of common agricultural policies,  to be implemented at the regional level; 
• Importance of sound competition rules, as data show  that the marketing of most foodstuffs are 
in the hands of few multinational companies.  Around 80 per cent of agriculture trade is 
controlled by five large agro-industrial companies; 
• New efforts at coherence must somehow address th e range of international organisations with 
overlapping mandates relating to agriculture including:  FAO, IFAD, WFP, UNCTAD and 
others.  The challenge of achieving coherence can be understood when one considers the need 
to organize them all within a communal policy on agriculture; 
• Responsibility should be taken to ensure that  further fragmentation is  arrested and sound 
cooperation is promoted; 
• The practice in some developed countries employ ing allotments of food buffer stocks to 
organisations purely as a source of finance (by selling the stocks on the open market) 
highlights the level of dysfunction pervadi ng agricultural subsidy regimes in developed 
countries; 
• Capacity-building and technical assistance to the LDCs in agriculture to increase productivity, 
research and development, subsidizing inputs to increase production, etc. 
 
VI. CLOSING AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE WAY FORWARD 
25. The delegates in the conference stressed the im portance of taking a holistic approach and of 
striking a balance between the trade and non-trade consideration when implementing policy responses 
to the food crisis.  Addressing many of these and othe r issues raised in the discussions would require a 
greater degree of cooperation at all levels  between national authorities and relevant 
international/regional organisations handling issues re lating to food, trade and industrial development.  
The workshop recommended further work in this ar ea, this aspect should be given due importance. 
26. The Table
 below presents a Summary of the Recomme ndations on the solutions to the trade 
and to the non-trade issues, as well as on the a llocation of duties among the various stakeholders. G/AG/GEN/77 
WT/COMTD/68 WT/COMTD/LDC/14 
Page 8 
  
   
 
Recommendations 
 
 
Trade solutions 
 
National level  
Regional level  
International/  
Multilateral levels  • Waiver / Exemption for the 
LDCs on the food export 
restrictions and prohibitions  
• Further operationalise the 
NFIDCs Decision in WTO and  
• To Transform it into a Food 
crisis-plagued LDCs  
(PCPLDCs)  
• Rethink and renegotiate the 
WTO Preferences for the LDCs 
in Agriculture  
• Rethink possibilities for the 
LDCs to reconsider bound rates 
in the agricultural sector   National level  
Regional level  
International/  
Multilateral 
levels  • Monitoring mechanisms  
• Assess  the implementation and 
benefits of Duty-free export schemes  
• Insert in EIF and in A4T provisions 
for sustainable agriculture and predictable resources for enhancing 
food outputs, including through 
allocations for food crisis emergencies   
National level  
Regional level  
International/  
Multilateral levels  • Identify the provisions for 
flexibilities in genetically-modified crops  
• Rethink the neo-liberal 
solutions in the agricultural sector in LDCs  
• Re-assess the IMF 
conditionalities as linked to trade 
• DDA negotiations on 
Agricultural to cater for solutions on the food crisis in 
relation to the three pillars in 
the AoA     
 
Non-Trade Solutions 
 
National level  
Regional 
level  • Insurance schemes for producers  
• Buffer food stocks, in particular for 
the vulnerable segments of the 
population  
• Productive capacities (quality, 
quantities, equipments, storage 
facilities, local)  
• Value and supply chain strategy 
(processing of local food staples)  
• Monetization of food aid  
• Design of targeted projects on food 
aid to be financed  
• Incentives for LDCs farmers to 
produce food staples  
• Land reforms and farmers rights   International/  
Multilateral 
levels  • Increase the technical assistance for 
food crisis and food production in 
the LDCs  
• Assess the feasibility for creating a 
"Common Agricultural Policy" 
(CAP)  
• Support and enhance the support for 
current initiatives in creating a 
"Common Agricultural Policy" (CAP)  
• Assess the impact of agricultural 
policies of OECD countries on the LDCs    G/AG/GEN/77 
 WT/COMTD/68 
 WT/COMTD/LDC/14 
 Page 9 
  
  International/  
Multilateral 
levels  • Assess the feasibility for crop 
Insurance schemes for producers on 
large-scale calamities  
• Alternative schemes on energy crisis  
• Swapping the non urgency food aid 
into capacity-building (transport, storage, fertilizers)  
• Technical assistance in putting in 
place buffer food stocks, through 
relevant international and regional organisations (FAO, WFP, IFAD)  
• Provisions for financing the targeted 
projects on food aid  
• Implementation of the actual 
commitments from the FAO Summit 
and the G8  
• Monitoring mechanism    International/  
Multilateral 
levels  • Increase the technical assistance for 
food crisis and food production in 
the LDCs  
• Assess the feasibility for creating a 
"Common Agricultural Policy” (CAP) in regional economic 
groupings  
• Support and enhance the support for 
current initiatives in creating a 
"Common Agricultural Policy" 
(CAP)  
• Assess the impact of agricultural 
policies of OECD countries on the 
LDCs   
International/  
Multilateral 
levels  • Call for a HIPC-wise Initiative for 
the LDCs from the International 
Financial Institutions (IFIs) to cope with the financial difficulties, in 
particular on the BOP  
• To operationalise the Decision on 
Coherence between the WTO and 
the IFIs  
• Policy research and Development on 
the structural trends of the food 
crisis and on tentative solutions at 
the three levels: national, regional and international, as well as on trade 
and on non-trade issues  
  
 
 
27. At the closing, Ambassador Maruping, Lesotho, further recommended that the discussions 
and the recommendations should be used in the cu rrent DDA negotiations.  Attempts would be made 
to present the conclusions to the wider WTO member ship and to derive concrete proposals to be 
submitted accordingly.  Broader issues regarding the implications of the developments in the 
application of rules by countries relating to the food crisis should be submitted to the relevant 
authorities for further implementation at the global level. 
 
__________