The Director-General said she detected a “meeting of minds” on an initiative from the Chair of the agriculture negotiations, Ambassador Alparslan Acarsoy of Türkiye, outlining two options for advancing the negotiations.
“I sense that there’s a willingness to try to break the gridlock on agriculture and to try and move the process forward,” she said. “I also sense that people like the idea of meeting in various configurations with each other and trying to find common ground.”
More than 50 members took the floor to voice their views on the Chair’s report outlining two options for advancing the negotiations. The first option is based on group discussions, where members can form smaller groups to discuss specific issues and then feed their outcomes into broader talks at the Committee on Agriculture in special session (CoA SS) and its dedicated sessions. The second option is based on a facilitator-led process, whereby facilitators appointed by the Chair would guide inclusive discussions on various topics, provide updates and ensure members’ inputs shape substantive negotiations.
DG Okonjo-Iweala said she sensed an “appetite” to see both options going forward but that a number of delegations have questions about the process and wanted clarity on several issues. She said she and the Chair would convene a meeting to seek answers to those questions and then lay out a process and timelines for engagement for members’ consideration.
Ambassador Acarsoy said members recognized the need to resume negotiations after recent setbacks this year at the 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi and the July General Council. Members emphasized that rebuilding trust is crucial for progress and agreed the status quo is undesirable, requiring fresh ideas to break the deadlock, he said.
“So, the question before us today is how we take concrete steps forward,” Ambassador Acarsoy said. He also said some members support the idea of establishing “milestones” on the road to the WTO’s next Ministerial Conference (MC14) for achieving progress. He stressed that periodic meetings may be needed at the Heads of Delegations level, with senior officials where necessary, to help ensure progress on the most intractable issues.
The Director-General noted members’ calls for updating and reforming WTO multilateral disciplines in agriculture, emphasizing that while agriculture is crucially important to the world, reform “hasn’t gone very far” in the past 25 years. She said: “We don’t want to continue to see agriculture as an issue that is put on the back burner. We want it to be the process that is alive.”
DG Okonjo-Iweala voiced her support for the process proposed by the Chair. “We need to start somewhere,” she said. “We need to give the process that the CoA SS Chair just outlined a chance.” The Chair’s proposal, she added, offers members a fresh opportunity, respecting past mandates while considering new challenges such as climate change and water issues.
DG Okonjo-Iweala said: “I intend to accord as much time, importance, and priority to agriculture in the coming weeks and months, but that depends on you.”
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