./. WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/MIN(11)/19 
16 December 2011 
 (11-6576) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Eighth Session Geneva, 15 - 17 December 2011 Original:   English 
 
  
G-20 MINISTERIAL DECLARATION 
 
Geneva, 14 December 2011 
 
  The following communication, dated 14 December 2011, is being circulated at the request of 
the Delegations of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile , China, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, Guatemala, India, 
Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, Pe ru, Philippines, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, 
Uruguay, Venezuela and Zimbabwe on behalf of the G-20. 
 
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 1. We, the Ministers of the G-20, met on 14 December 2011 in Geneva, before the 8
th World 
Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference, to review the current state of play in the Doha 
Round and to discuss ways to enhance the coordination of developing countries.  
2. Recognizing the challenges brought by the current economic outlook, we reaffirm our 
commitment to the WTO trade regime and to th e Doha Development Age nda (DDA). We highlight 
the increased importance of a well-functioning rules-based multilateral trading system in times of 
uncertainty. We underscore with concern that the continuation of the WTO trade reform process in 
agriculture is at an impasse and that the need fo r improving existing disciplin es in agriculture remains 
unabated.  
3. In this regard, we recall the long standing work and contributions of the G-20 for the 
agricultural negotiations of the Doha Round. Since its inception, in 2003, the G-20 has consistently 
voiced the need for the elimination of trade-distor ting policies maintained by developed countries. It 
has also defended that results should live up to the development dimension of the Doha mandate. 
4. We note with concern the current deadlock in  the Doha Round. The DDA negotiations were 
launched with a clear mandate to address some of  the challenges faced by developing countries, 
especially through the reform of agricultural disciplin es. Unfortunately, due to lack of progress in the 
Round, distortions caused by high levels of protectio n in agriculture, including subsidies, continue to 
undermine the long-term development prospects of many developing countries, especially the least 
developed ones. 
5. As a core element of its development dimensi on, we underline that agriculture is the center-
piece of the Doha Round and that agriculture must de termine the general level of ambition within the 
overall negotiations. We also underscore the need to preserve the 10 years of negotiating history, 
which reflects strenuously negotiated trade-offs and landing zones, if the Round is to be concluded 
any time soon. WT/MIN(11)/19 
Page 2  
 
  6. We reaffirm our commitment to the single undertaking and to a truly transparent and 
inclusive multilateral negotiating process. The discuss ion on possible deliverables must not result in 
abandoning the Doha mandate. In addition, the G-20 underscores that if members were to reach provisional or definitive agreements earlier than  the full conclusion of the single undertaking, 
agricultural issues, across the th ree pillars of agricultural modalities, must be the priority.  
7. We agree that DDA outcomes related to agricultu re which are of particular interest to the 
poorest countries, especially the LDCs – such as  the full implementation of the Hong Kong mandate 
on export competition by the end of 2013 and on cotton – should be delivered as a priority.  
8. The G-20 underlines that highly-volatile intern ational food commodity prices raise concerns 
in many developing countries and that deliverin g the Doha mandate on agriculture would play a 
positive role in addressing concerns related to food security.  
9. The G-20 agrees to follow closely developments , especially in Washington and Brussels, 
related to reforming the Farm Bill and the CAP, with a focus on assessing their likely impact on 
developing countries.  
10. We express serious concern over the increase of pr otectionism in agricultural trade as a result 
of the adoption of measures without scientific or technical justification and not in line with the 
Agreements on Application of Sanitary and Phyt osanitary Measures or on Technical Barriers to 
Trade. Such measures affect developing countries in a disproportionate way and constitute another 
unjustified trade barrier developing countries face in order to fully enjoy their market access rights 
under WTO disciplines. The G-20 notes with concern the increasing resort, largely in developed 
countries, to private standards and food labeling requir ements that are not in full conformity with the 
abovementioned WTO agreements.  
11. Finally, the G-20 expresses its gratitude for th e valuable insights and contributions from the 
coordinators of the following developing countr y groups that attended the G-20 Ministerial: The 
African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States – AC P (Mauritius), the Least Developed Countries – 
LDCs (Bangladesh), the African Group (Kenya),  the Small and Vulnerable Economies – SVEs 
(Barbados), the G-33 (Indonesia) and the Cotton-4 (Burkina Faso).  
 
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