Discurso na Sexta Conferência Ministerial da OMC - Hong Kong, China, 14 de dezembro de 2005

Madam Chair, I would like to thank the people and the Government of Hong Kong, China, for the warm hospitality and the arrangements for this Conference. Trade liberalization can lead to prosperity provided it proceeds in a balanced way and takes into account the differentiated needs of poorer countries. This has not been the case so far. It is widely accepted that the multilateral trading system suffers from a development deficit. The launching of the Doha Development Agenda four years ago was a recognition of this fact. To a large extent, the development deficit results from the inadequacy of the rules that apply to agriculture as compared to other economic activities. The agricultural gap compounds the development gap. For some time, even after Doha, developed countries tried to camouflage these realities. They attempted to sell to the rest of the world a round on the cheap. In Cancun, developing countries had to raise their voice against such a move.

They stood firm against a meagre agreement that would not even scratch the structure of privileges and injustices built into world trade, notably in agriculture. Developing countries from Africa, Asia and Latin America represent the majority of the world’s rural population and a sizeable share of international trade in agricultural products. Many of them have joined forces to create the G-20, which includes large agricultural exporters, countries that rely on family agriculture and least developed countries, all with a common objective: doing away with practices that distort agricultural trade. Subsidies and barriers in developed countries suppress prices, displace production and threaten livelihoods in developing nations. This is where reform is most needed, and most urgently. Rich countries cannot expect to receive payment for doing what they should have done long ago. After so many years – should I say decades or centuries? – remnants of feudalism have been lingering on side by side with other forms of unacceptable privileges. Poor countries cannot wait for another twenty years to see true reform in agricultural trade.

The time to act is now. All forms of distorting subsidies have to be eliminated or drastically reduced. As far as domestic subsidies are concerned, the overall level of support has to be cut in real, not purely nominal, terms. Such cuts must be accompanied by tight disciplines. The time has come to define a precise end-date for export subsidies and other equivalent forms of distorting measures. Ensuring greater market access is also essential, not only because of the direct interest to developing countries but also because of the virtuous cycle it can generate in relation to the other pillars of the agricultural negotiations. Sensitivities in developing countries as to food security, rural development and the means of livelihood of their population have to be properly addressed, lest they become an impediment to the forward movement we want to see in agricultural trade as a whole. We understand that the Doha round is not about agriculture alone. But its mandate recognizes that there are differentiated needs and responsibilities. This must be translated into proportionate commitments between agriculture and other market access negotiations, namely services and industrial goods. The major economies cannot expect more concessions from developing countries than what they are willing to offer. This would be tantamount to S&D in the reverse. It just won’t happen. We must also be sensitive to the needs of those who face the greatest challenges. This is the case of the LDCs and other small vulnerable economies.

This Round should result in a firm commitment by developed countries to provide dutyfree and quota-free market access to products from the LDCs on a stable and permanent basis, in a manner that helps these countries to diversify their productive base and free them from the bondage of unilateral, unreliable and unstable favours. To translate our commitment into practice, Brazil, along with its Mercosul partners, is prepared to move in the direction of duty-free and quota-free access for products coming from LDCs, especially from Africa and Latin America. A central tenet of the G-20’s platform is our concern with a fair and balanced process that reflects the interests of the whole WTO membership. We are pleased to see that this “bottom-up” approach has been followed in the preparation of this Conference. It is our hope that, after this Ministerial Conference, the Round will have gained new momentum, by means of credible and courageous moves that will enable us to achieve ambitious results in the short time that is left.

To that end, the G-20 is committed to arrive at full modalities by early April. We cannot afford to see the Doha round fail out of inaction or lack of vision. Its development dimension has raised hopes and expectations in all developing countries, large and small, LDC or otherwise. Let us not miss this opportunity to promote development.

Thank you