Global Sugar Alliance members are active participants in processes to improve the world sugar trading environment. Members works closely together to ensure the fair and equal treatment of sugar in the WTO negotiations on agriculture.
Open letter to the WTO Agriculture Negotiating Committee
Published: 07/06/2005 Author: Keith De Lacy Origin: Australia Abstract: Open letter to the WTO Agriculture Negotiating Committee from Keith De Lacy,
Chairman
Full Article: 7 June 2005
Chairman WTO Agriculture Negotiating Committee Director-General WTO EU Commissioner for Trade and Commissioner for Agriculture USTR &USDA Cairns Group Ministers G-20 Ministers
Dear Chairman/Minister/Commissioner
The Global Alliance for Sugar Trade Reform and Liberalisation is a strong supporter of the WTO and the Doha Round negotiations. This multilateral process is the key to achieving positive, progressive and meaningful reform of policies affecting sugar trade.
An ambitious result in the Doha Round, across all three agricultural pillars, as agreed by WTO member countries in the Doha mandate, is a high priority. We have waited a long time for change. Sugar was largely sidelined during the Uruguay Round and the world sugar market remains one of the most distorted, largely because of the sugar policies and access regimes of major developed countries.
For this reason, there is strong support amongst Global Sugar Alliance Members for an outcome to the Doha negotiations that includes substantial improvements in market access opportunities, substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support, the elimination of all forms of export subsidies, and with special and differential treatment continued and strengthened as an integral part of all three pillars. These are the key measuring rods against which the outcome of the Doha Round will be gauged. We urge you and your WTO Ministerial colleagues to use the achievement of significant improvements in each pillar for sugar as a litmus test for the success of the Round.
As agreed in the in the July 2004 Framework Text, the principle of “substantial improvement” must apply to each product, especially sugar. This is the last chance. It is essential that the draft agreement that will be taken to the Hong Kong Ministerial meeting be comprehensive and include a defined implementation plan that includes discernable, transparent, measurable steps towards an agreed outcome over as short an implementation period as possible. A detailed statement of our objectives for sugar is attached.
The Global Sugar Alliance is committed to securing a worthwhile outcome for sugar. We urge all WTO members to pursue this objective and will continue to work closely with our own governments to highlight the benefits of a comprehensive agreement that delivers on the high level of ambition in the Doha mandate.
