We need to match rhetoric with action. The Cairns Group is systematically addressing agricultural reform in the current WTO agriculture negotiations and working with other developing countries towards the common goal of trade reform. As you know, the second session of the agriculture negotiations will commence in two days time in Geneva. The Cairns Group is ready to negotiate constructively to achieve the fundamental reform that all WTO members have undertaken to work towards. It has already submitted an ambitious but realistic proposal on export competition.
Export subsidies are an area ripe for reform.
There is widespread recognition that these are the most pernicious and trade-distorting of all forms of support. That is why they have not been permitted in industrials for 40 years. Essentially, the treasuries of rich countries are allowed to block the development opportunities of their poorer neighbours. If we can achieve the elimination of export subsidies as a first step in these negotiations, we can show the developing world that we are serious about full engagement in the global economy. For developing countries to benefit fully from a rules-based system, market openings must be available in areas where they have export potential and the capacity to supply.