Punta del Este, Uruguay
3 September 2001
Cairns Group farm leaders met alongside ministers at the 22nd Ministerial Meeting of the Cairns Group in Punta del Este, Uruguay, from 3 - 8 September 2001. The symbolism of meeting in Punta del Este, where the GATT Uruguay Round was launched in September 1986, was not lost on ministers or farm leaders. There was a strong sense of frustration with the continuing discrimination against agriculture in world trade. Some delegates likened this problem to a festering sore that political leaders in the major economies have simply failed to treat.
Farm leaders representing the fifteen developing countries in the Cairns Group spoke passionately about their struggle against rural poverty in the face of unjust treatment of agriculture. "If the rich countries can't hear the growing roar from developing countries over international trade policy in agriculture, then they must be living on another planet", said one farm leader. "No longer can it be business as usual in farm policy and it's about time the Europeans, Japanese and Americans accepted the economic and moral imperative to fix this problem," he said.
In a strongly worded statement to ministers (English | Spanish | Portuguese) the farm leaders called for an ambitious mandate for agriculture at the WTO Ministerial Meeting at Doha, Qatar, from 9 - 13 November 2001. Following a presentation on Trade & Environment by Alan Oxley and a presentation on the dangers of the Precautionary Principle by Julian Morris, farm leaders rejected calls by the European Union to include environment in the new round of global trade talks.
The President of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, Dr. Jorge Battle, addressed the Farm Leaders Conference at the Conrad Hotel. He spoke about the importance of agriculture to the economy of Uruguay and the need for fundamental reform in global agriculture policies. Dr. Gonzalo Gonzalez, Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries in Uruguay also addressed he farm leaders and spoke about the objectives of the Cairns Group in the new round of multilateral trade negotiations.
President of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, Dr. Jorge Battle (centre) with Australian farm leader Ian Donges (left) and Uruguay farm leader Roberto Symonds (right).
www.cairnsgroupfarmers.org/download/Preferential_trade.pdf[]Dr. Peter Barnard from Meat & Livestock Australia gave a presentation on global meat trade and Australia's Minister for Trade Hon. Mark Vaile launched a 5-nations global beef study called the 'Magellan Project'. The Cairns Group Farm Leaders launched their third publication, called 'Preferential Trade and Developing Countries: Bad Aid, Bad Trade'. This publication was produced by Dr Andy Stoeckel from Centre for International Economics to counter the wrong-headed arguments of some protectionist countries that trade preferences for least developed countries will aid their development.
The farm leaders then visited a number of farms and held discussions with farmers in the beef and dairy industries in Uruguay.
Next Meeting Report:
19/5/2002 Opportunity of a Century to Liberalize Farm Trade
Previous Meeting Report:
10/10/2000 Bannf, Alberta, Canada