Civil Society Statement to the G33 Ministers’ Meeting

Jakarta, Indonesia
March 21, 2007

We are the small women and men farmers, indigenous people, fisherfolk, non-government organizations, research and advocacy groups and other agricultural stakeholders calling on the G33 to resist the underhanded acts of the United States, European Union and other WTO members to undermine the right of developing countries’ to protect agricultural sector.

We are alarmed by the presence of WTO Director General Pascal Lamy, European Union Ambassador Peter Mandelson and US trade delegates in the G33 meeting today. The United States continues to criticize the Special Products and Special Safeguards Mechanism in its public statements. We fear that the presence of WTO DG Lamy, EU and US delegates in the meeting will erode the G33’s position on SPs and SSM.

The protection of livelihood, food security and rural development should remain at the heart of the Doha Development Round. The Doha Development Agenda should address the imbalances of the past agreement on agriculture one of the ways of addressing these imbalances is to give developing countries’ right to raise tariffs and impose quantitative restrictions on imports without any compensation.

We urge G33 to reject the proposals of the US, World Bank and other countries and institutions seeking to undermine developing countries’ right to use Special Products and Special Safeguard Mechanism to respond to their food security, livelihood security and rural development objectives.

We particularly call on G33 to:

• Demand for 20 percent or more of all agricultural tariff lines as Special Products
• Involve stakeholders, especially small women and men farmers, indigenous peoples and fisherfolk in the identification of special products, and on all issues related to SPs and SSM.
• Include gender dimension in identifying special products.
• Refuse tariff reduction or TRQ commitments on special products.
• Maintain that SPs have higher levels of protection such as increasing tariffs higher than the bound rates and imposing quantitative restrictions on importation.
• Keep all agricultural products have access to SSM because import surges and price volatility affect every product.
• Not undermine demand for SSM on price or volume trigger is breached. Each country should have the right to define the level of import surge by itself.
• Expand the SSM duties beyond the current bound rates.
• Have an offensive approach on the flexibility to impose quantitative restrictions in case of import surge or price fluctuation.

We are concerned with emerging Free Trade Agreements that will limit the developing countries’ capability to use SP and SSM to address the needs of small women and men farmers, indigenous peoples, fisherfolk and other agricultural stakeholders. We urge the G33 governments to recast all FTAs in a manner consistent with the demand of developing countries’ right to protect the livelihoods of small women and men farmers, indigenous people, and fisherfolk.

We urge G33 governments to stop adopting unilateral import liberalization policies and domestic liberalization of the farming sector that are marginalizing small women and men farmers, indigenous people, fisherfolk and other agricultural stakeholders.

We urge G33 not to limit advocacy only to SPs and SSM but to aggressively push for substantial reduction if not total elimination of trade distorting domestic support and subsidies. We also urge G33 to demand the creation of strong disciplines in all boxes and de minimis to inhibit the developed countries from box shifting.

We also urge G33 to reject the reinstatement of “peace clause”

We call upon our governments to provide necessary support to meet our food security, livelihood and rural development needs.

We, civil society organizations assure you our fullest support in taking forward the cause of poor and marginalized.

Signed by:

• Koalisi Rakyat Untuk Kedaulatan Pangan (KRKP) (People’s Coalition for Food Sovereignty)
• Sekretariat Bersama Indonesia Bersero (SBIB)
• Kelompok Tani
• Pisat Analisis Sosial Eleononis Kebijakan Portanio
• Semkat Tani Nasional
• JARABKOR (Farmers Organization)
• BINADESA (SBIB)
• Rice Watch and Action Network
• Pambansang Kilusan ng Kababaihan sa Kanayunan (National Rural Women Coalition-Philippines)
• Pambansang Kalipunan ng Samahan sa Kanayunan (PKSK-Philippines)
• Pambansang Kilusan ng mga Samahan ng Magsasaka at Mangingisda (PAKISAMA-Philippines)
• Asian Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Asia (ASIADHRRA)
• Task Force Food Sovereignty (TFFS)
• APNFS
• Asian Farmers Association for Sustainable and Rural Development (representing 10 countries in Asia)
• Korean Advanced Farmers Federation (KAFF)
• Bharat Krishak Samaj (India’s Largest Farmers Organization)
• International Gender and Trade Network
• Rede Brasileira Pela Integragat Dos Povos (REBRIP-Brazil)
• Equit Institute – Brazil
• Action Aid
• Institute for Global Justice