Informal G10 Ministerial Gathering
Bern, 20.01.2017 - Ministers and high officials from G10 countries met on 20 January 2017 in the fringes of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, at the invitation of Federal Councillor Johann N. Schneider-Ammann. The G10 Members assessed current issues of the WTO negotiations on agriculture and emphasized their willingness to constructively engage in upcoming trade talks ahead of the next WTO Ministerial Conference.
The G10 is a group of net food-importing WTO Members comprised of Iceland, Israel, Japan, Korea, Liechtenstein, Mauritius, Norway as well as Chinese Taipei, and coordinated by Switzerland. The meeting was chaired by Swiss Federal Councillor Johann N. Schneider-Ammann, Head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research.
Reiterating their strong interest in a well-functioning multilateral trading system, G10 Members expressed their support for a balanced outcome at the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires in December 2017 in different areas, including agriculture.
G10 Members highlighted their willingness to engage constructively in the agricultural negotiations in the run-up to the Buenos Aires Conference.
At the same time, G10 Members recalled their sensitivities in agriculture, including with regard to domestic support. They emphasized that any new disciplines should target subsidies with the most distorting impact on world markets; that they should build on the current elements of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture; and that they should not affect G10 Members in a disproportionate way.
G10 Members will continue to cooperate closely for WTO disciplines which take into account the concerns of net food-importing Members in domestic support and market access. Further, they will support enhanced disciplines on export restrictions benefitting global food security.
Address for enquiries
Adrian Aebi, Assistant Director General, Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture FOAG, +41 58 462 25 02
Markus Schlagenhof, Ambassador, Delegate of the Federal Council for Trade Agreements, Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, Tel. +41 58 462 22 10.
Publisher
Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research
http://www.wbf.admin.ch
State Secretariat for Economic Affairs
http://www.seco.admin.ch
