Ukraine takes part in meeting of ministers of Cairns Group member states

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala acknowledged the leading role of the Cairns Group in the negotiations on agriculture and welcomed the joint statement by the Cairns Group and the African Group in which the parties expressed their readiness to cooperate constructively, the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine informs.

The ministers of the Cairns Group stressed the importance of achieving ambitious, concrete, and fair results in agriculture at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference, scheduled from 30 November to 3 December 2021 in Geneva. They also reaffirmed their commitment to progress in all components of agriculture – domestic support, market access, and export competition – to ensure a balanced and gradual reform process and to ensure that WTO members properly implement the agreement on the abolition of export subsidies.

In his speech, Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka pointed out the importance for Ukraine to achieve a significant result in the negotiations, both in terms of domestic support for agriculture and access to the agricultural market in order to reduce the imbalance between the level of commitments of WTO members.

"Taras Kachka expressed hope that the decision of the 12th Ministerial Conference would give a positive and concrete impetus to the long-awaited process of further reforming the agricultural trade system and stressed Ukraine's readiness to cooperate constructively with members of the Cairns Group to achieve a common goal," reads the statement.

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