Agriculture Ministers to Meet Amid Trade Disruptions
As agriculture ministers from different world regions prepare to meet in Berlin ahead of the WTO’s 13th ministerial conference, trade restrictions and supply chain disruptions are high on the agenda.
War and Conflicts Disrupting Supply Chains FAO: Trade Restrictions Pushing Up Cereal Prices Brazil G20 Presidency Spotlights Hunger, Poverty WTO Ag Talks Chair: «Very Little Time Left» Farm Policy Measures, Reforms, Announced WOAH Urges Action on Avian Influenza Fisheries: Chile, Gambia, and UK formally accept deal
War and Conflicts Disrupting Supply Chains
Some 70 agriculture ministers from different world regions are set to meet in Berlin this Saturday, in the margins of the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture, against a backdrop of renewed concern over disruptions to food and agricultural trade.
The forum, which is convened annually by the German government, is due to address the theme «Food Systems for Our Future: Joining Forces for a Zero Hunger World». A background paper says the event will provide an opportunity to discuss resilient and sustainable supply chains in the run-up to the WTO’s thirteenth ministerial conference (MC13), the organisation’s highest decision-making body, which will meet in Abu Dhabi from 26–29 February.
War and conflicts, trade restrictions, inflation, and market volatility have disrupted global supply chains, the note says.
On 10 January, the UN Security Council passed a resolution condemning «in the strongest terms» attacks by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, which have disrupted global shipping, potentially affecting food security.
FAO: Trade Restrictions Pushing Up Cereal Prices
New data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows food prices in December continued to fall steadily after having hit record peaks in March 2022, following the outbreak of war in Ukraine. (See News Harvest, April 2022)
The figures, released on 5 January, also show cereal prices rose in December, despite the overall drop in the price of the basket of commodities that make up the FAO’s Food Price Index.
India’s rice export restrictions and tight availabilities in Viet Nam were among contributing factors, the agency said. (See also News Harvest, September 2023)
In December, India authorised exports of non-basmati white rice to Comoros, Madagascar, Equatorial Guinea, Egypt, and Kenya, after having banned exports of this product category in July. The exemption follows a similar decision in October allowing exports to seven other African and Asian countries.
Other major economies have also imposed trade restrictions. In separate developments, the Russian Federation has extended a ban on rice and rice cereal exports until 30 June 2024, and announced a ban on durum wheat exports until 31 May 2024.
Poland stated on 4 January that its restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural exports will remain in place until further notice. Analysis by the European Commission in September found that market distortions had disappeared in the five EU member states bordering Ukraine, although media reports have since indicated that the countries concerned continue to call for the bloc to impose import duties on Ukrainian grain.
In September, Ukraine initiated a WTO dispute regarding bilateral measures imposed by three of these EU member states.
A WTO report released on 18 December found that trade measures introduced by G20 economies between mid-May and mid-October 2023 had become more restrictive.
«Export restrictions on food, feed, and fertilizer in particular continue to contribute to shortages, price volatility, and uncertainty,» said WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
Brazil
G20 Presidency Spotlights Hunger, Poverty
Brazil’s G20 Presidency in 2024 is set to highlight issues of hunger and poverty, alongside sustainable development and global governance reform, the government has said.
In addition to convening meetings on trade and investment and on agriculture, the government plans to hold regular meetings of a task force to address hunger and poverty.
In a November report to the WTO Committee on Agriculture, the World Food Programme cautioned that acute food insecurity is set to worsen in 18 hunger hotspots — with Burkina Faso, Mali, Palestine, South Sudan, and the Sudan of particular concern. More recently, the agency has warned of the risk of famine in Gaza.
WTO Ag Talks Chair: «Very Little Time Left»
Ambassador Alparslan Acarsoy (Türkiye), the Chair of the WTO agriculture negotiations, has reminded trade officials that they have «very little time left» before ministers meet in Abu Dhabi for MC13.
At meetings of the negotiating body that were held on 16 and 17 January, and which were open to all WTO members, he told participants he had recently held consultations with a small group of members — and had been encouraged by the engagement and constructive spirit among them.
Trade officials have struggled to make progress in the long-running talks, which began in early 2000 under Article 20 of the Agreement on Agriculture. While ministerial conferences held in 2022, 2015, and 2013 delivered some initial outcomes on food and agriculture, negotiators have yet to reach consensus on thorny topics on the negotiating agenda — such as how to cut trade-distorting domestic support to the farm sector, and how to account for food bought at government-set prices by developing countries under their public stockholding programmes.
Negotiators at the meetings this week also presented negotiating submissions on export restrictions on food, where the UK put forward a revised proposal, and on agricultural production and trade, where the African Group presented a submission that had previously been circulated at the WTO General Council. New Zealand and Canada also separately presented analysis on government support for specific agricultural products.
Farm Policy Measures, Reforms, Announced
On 4 January, Germany announced it will phase in cuts to agricultural diesel subsidies, following protests by farmers.
In separate developments, Indonesia has said it planned to increase its budget for fertilizer subsidies and raise to 35% its biofuel blending mandate, while the Russian Federation announced that it would consolidate its existing agricultural subsidy programmes into one subsidy.
Following Argentina’s currency devaluation in mid-December, the government has proposed wide-ranging economic reforms which are also due to affect the agricultural sector. Higher trade-related taxes and the normalisation of agricultural production are expected to support Argentina’s fiscal revenues, the IMF said on 10 January.
WOAH Urges Action on Avian Influenza
In December, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) published a new policy brief setting out why vaccination for avian influenza should not be a barrier for safe trade.
The brief highlights the «staggering toll» of the disease, which has seen over 500 million birds lost to the disease worldwide since 2005.
Governments should consider vaccination as part of a toolbox of measures they can adopt to effectively contain the disease, the agency said.
Fisheries: Chile, Gambia, and UK formally accept deal
Chile, Gambia, and the UK have formally accepted the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies — bringing to 55 the number of WTO members that have done so.
On 29 January from 13.00–14.30 (CET), the WTO is organising its next «Trade Dialogue on Food» on the topic «COP28 and food trade».
