It was launched during the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, thereby reaffirming the long history of collaboration between both organizations to support member governments of the WTO system, in particular in the field of agriculture, including agricultural negotiations and sanitary and phytosanitary measures.
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 5 March 2024 (IICA) – The World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) launched a manual to bolster the participation of delegates in the Committee on Agriculture of the governing body for international trade. The manual will contribute significantly to transparency in negotiations and the strengthening of the multilateral rules affecting agrifood trade.
It was launched during the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, thereby reaffirming the long history of collaboration between both organizations to support member governments of the WTO system, in particular in the field of agriculture, including agricultural negotiations and sanitary and phytosanitary measures.
The Conference is the most important decision-making body of the international organization, whose mission is to promote fluid and predictable international trade, for the benefit of all countries and societies. It takes place every two years and is a forum for discussion and the negotiation of global trade agreements that promote the transparency and liberalization of international trade.
Participants in the launch of the manual included Jean Marie Paugam, Deputy Director General of the WTO; Diwakar Dixit, Secretary of the Committee on Agriculture; Edwini Kessie, Director of the Agricultural Division; Lloyd Day, Deputy Director General of IICA; Gloria Abraham, Advisor to the IICA General Directorate and Adriana Campos, International Trade Specialist at IICA, along with the agricultural delegates who are members of the IICA-IFPRI Network to the WTO for Latin America.
“This manual represents a concrete step in facilitating countries’ access to agricultural markets and helps to address the agriculture and food security challenges that the world is facing”, said Paugam. Kessie stressed that the publication will be useful for WTO member countries—not only those in the Americas—and also valuable for the Secretariat of his organization’s Agricultural Division.
On the other hand, Lloyd Day noted that the publication is taking place under the IICA-WTO memorandum of understanding signed last December during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) and is in response to a request by Latin American agricultural delegates to the WTO.
He went on to explain that the manual “will provide guidance to officials from the ministries of Agriculture and Commerce about the functioning of the WTO Committee on Agriculture, as well as to individuals overseeing agricultural activities in the various missions in Geneva, and will undoubtedly be very useful”.
Day argued that international trade plays a fundamental role in ensuring global food and nutrition security, as it facilitates widespread access and opportunity for agricultural products, by integrating local, regional and global supply chains.
Thus, he said that, “Consequently, we recognize how important it is for both of our organizations to join forces to drive technical cooperation actions in common areas of interest and specific activities that will contribute to ensuring a fairer and more market-driven agricultural trade system”.
The publication of the manual was well received by delegates from the European Union, Israel, New Zealand, El Salvador, Paraguay, Guatemala, Canada, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Brazil, Paraguay, Dominican Republic and Chile, among others who participated in the presentation and praised IICA’s work in strengthening multilateralism.
Promoting greater transparency
IICA, as an observer of the WTO Committee on Agriculture and its Sanitary and Phytosanitary Committee, has work assiduously to provide technical assistance to its member countries that are also members of the WTO – an organization that oversees the rules governing international trade.
The idea to prepare a guide for delegates of the Committee on Agriculture arose in a bid to optimize joint efforts and promote greater transparency in negotiations. The manual contains a guide to best practices and is a concrete step in improving the participation of delegation members, facilitating follow-up actions and guaranteeing compliance with multilateral rules affecting agrifood trade.
The manual is organized into four major sections. The first summarizes the Agreement on Agriculture, as the framework document guiding multilateral agrifood trade since 1995. The second offers a detailed description of the establishment, mandate and operations of the Committee on Agriculture. The third examines practical details about the meetings and offers suggestions on how to improve the participation of delegates. Finally, the fourth section presents the tools available to members to improve their compliance with transparency obligations.
The manual is available at the following link: https://repositorio.iica.int/handle/11324/22027
More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int
