Thoko Didiza, Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development, will attend the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference on Agricultural Negotiations, which will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, from June 12 to 16, 2022.
The negotiations are based on Article 20 of the Agricultural Agreement, which allows for the continuation of discussions on agricultural support and protection issues.
The abolition of export subsidies was the most recent key decision made in agricultural discussions at the Nairobi WTO Ministerial Conference in December 2015.
The department observed that the WTO membership could not agree on a joint declaration or work programme during the Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires in December 2017.
The department in a statement said, “To date, progress has been limited with members mainly repeating known positions. The divide remains largely between developed and developing member states”.
South Africa’s priority in agricultural negotiations, according to the department, is to achieve a significant and real reduction in trade-distorting domestic support, as well as to ensure sufficient policy space to implement developmental policies aimed at addressing poverty, inequality, and low economic growth.
South Africa’s negotiations, according to the department, must proceed in a specific order, with local support taking precedence.
“South Africa’s view is that market access negotiations should start once substantial progress has been made with domestic support. This is to ensure that historical imbalances are addressed and the playing field is levelled before engaging in further market access negotiations,” said the department.
“Approximately 70% of South Africa’s agricultural exports are already duty free, incorporating the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Trade Protocol, the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union, African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) with the United States of America and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (this agreement is not yet implemented),” the department added.
The Department of Agriculture said that South Africa’s primary market access difficulties are in the sanitary and phytosanitary fields, which are not negotiated under the Agreement on Agriculture.