WTO’s agriculture reforms crucial for food security goals: Australian minister

ABU DHABI / WAM

Agricultural trade reforms at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) are essential to meet global food security, climate and biodiversity goals, Don Farrell, Australia’s Minister for Trade and Tourism, told the Emirates News Agency (WAM). “Agricultural reform is important to Australia. We think that free and fair trade in agriculture helps lift people out of poverty around the world,” said Minister Farrell, who leads the Australian delegation to the WTO’s 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi.
In an interview with WAM at the ongoing conference, he suggested finding a way to move forward on agriculture that bolsters long-term food security for the most vulnerable. “It is Australia’s view that it will not be possible to meet global food security, climate and biodiversity goals without making progress on agricultural trade reform, including environmentally harmful subsidies.”
Exciting experience at MC13
Talking about his experiences of attending MC13 in Abu Dhabi, Minister Farrell said, “The UAE has just been fantastic. Abu Dhabi is a beautiful city, and the UAE is a beautiful country. So, I am very excited to be here.” As the UAE and Australia agreed last December to launch negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) to enhance trade and investment flows between the two countries, “we intend to make progress [in this regard],” the minister said. He expressed hope that Cepa could be signed this year. “A trade deal with the UAE will strengthen our relationship with one of our most important trading and investment partners in the Middle East. This is an opportunity to deepen our cooperation in addressing global economic challenges and our shared ambition to transition to net-zero.”
Other priorities at MC13
At MC13, Australia is looking forward to progress in negotiations on the dispute settlement procedure, fisheries subsidies and renewal of the moratorium on imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions, Minister Farrell said. “We very much support free trade. We are an island nation, and our prosperity is dependent upon increasing fair trade around the world.”
About negotiations on the dispute settlement procedure, he said, “We have not given up on the prospect of making progress. From Australia’s point of view, we will be pushing very hard to get an appellate process, and we believe that the system works best when there is an appellant process as part of the rules of the WTO.” On fisheries subsidies, he pointed out that there was some progress at MC12, and further progress could be made in Abu Dhabi. Minister Farrell welcomed the accession of Timor-Leste and Comoros to the WTO, which was officially announced on the first day of MC13.
Timor-Leste is a close regional partner, and its WTO accession has the potential to contribute greatly to the country’s economic sustainability, diversification and private sector growth through further integration into the regional and global economy, he said. Around 164 nations and trading blocs are participating in the Ministerial Conference, the WTO’s top decision-making body, which meets usually every two years.