With the approach of the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference (WTO MC12) Nov. 30-Dec. 3 in Geneva, Latin American and Caribbean countries face major challenges in the governance of agriculture and food trade—particularly the need for predictable and transparent trade systems critical for food security and environmental sustainability in the region and for the world.
A new book, The Road Towards the WTO MC12: A Latin America and the Caribbean Perspective—a joint collaboration between IFPRI and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA)—presents analysis, ideas, and proposals to contribute to the main areas of discussion in the Ministerial Conference regarding these issues and the region. This is the second book of the series; the first addressed the 2017 WTO MC11 conference. An Oct. 27 launch event previewed the book and the issues facing WTO MC12.
“The discussion on the multilateral approaches and the international agricultural trade are essential elements to achieve a global food system transformation,” IFPRI Director General Johan Swinnen said, opening the event. IFPRI Senior Research Coordinator Valeria Piñeiro, the book’s coordinator, noted the disruptive events that agrifood systems faced over the past year: The global economy has seen a systemic deterioration; there is a growing disenchantment with trade multilateralism; U.S.-China trade tensions have affected the dynamic of world trade institutions; and the COVID-19 pandemic is creating structural impacts in society and the economy, with long tail effects that are yet to be identified. These events are presenting new challenges for agricultural systems that call for a reexamination of the traditional agritrade issues, such as domestic support and market access, and the definition of key elements of the WTO role and its institutions, Piñeiro said.
Agriculture is part of a broader system that comprises food security, livelihoods and environmental sustainability; predictable and transparent trade systems are key to maintaining all of those things. Lee Ann Jackson, head of the Agro-food Trade and Markets Division of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said the pandemic has had a profound impact on transparency and monitoring of trade flows. Despite a rapid adaptation to digital tools in affected countries, transparency cannot be taken for granted, Jackson said. Incentives should be created to exchange information effectively, as well as a rules framework that allows the system to continuously evolve with changing conditions, she said.
The development of resilient agrifood systems depends more than ever on flows of information to respond to changing market conditions. Current trends, however, are undermining the goal of transparent and cost efficient supply chains to mobilize agricultural goods. Across Latin America and the Caribbean, there are net agriculture exporters and net agriculture importers that take a range of positions in global trade negotiations. However, for Maximo Torero, Chief Economist at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), this situation presents an excellent opportunity for countries to engage in alternative agreements and interregional trade. Reducing the costs of trade and making systems more efficient and predictable means creating jobs, increasing income, and providing nutritious diets to more people, Torero said.
The details on how to reach these goals were addressed in a Q&A panel that hosted some of the authors of the book, who presented their main insights on these topics: Antoine Bouet (IFPRI), Adriana Campos Azofeifa (IICA), Adriana Garcia Vargas (IICA), Joseph Glauber (IFPRI), Nelson Illescas (INAI), David Laborde Debucquet (IFPRI), Sabine Papendieck (Estrateco Consultants), Martin Piñeiro (CARI), and Agustin Tejeda Rodriguez (Bolsa de Cereales de Buenos Aires).
Looking forward to WTO MC12 and beyond, Eugenio Díaz-Bonilla, Head of IFPRI’s Latin American and Caribbean Program, stressed in his closing remarks that the region is crucial to global food security and for environmental sustainability, and thus needs an adequate trade regime to support this responsibility.
Thomas Whamond is a contributor to The Road Towards the WTO MC12. He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Public Policy at the University of Chicago.
The IFPRI-led CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) provided support for this book.
