WTO brings fairness to agricultural trade

On May 18, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Minister had a meeting with Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweal. According to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, since joining the WTO, Vietnam has always believed that the WTO is the cornerstone, the legal basis for future agreements. The WTO plays an important role in bringing fairness in the enforcement of international trade rules, operating as a forum for trade negotiations that ensures growth and fair trade.

The Minister also informed MS. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweal that Vietnam recently organized the fourth Global Conference on Sustainable Food Systems in a new context with many difficulties and challenges, and stated its commitment to becoming a responsible, transparent and sustainable food supplier.

"In that context, we need to be more proactive, propose strong cooperation and feasible negotiations in fields related to agriculture, focusing on eliminating trade-distorting measures as well as agricultural trade imbalance,” he said, adding that the solutions need to focus on important areas such as market opening, domestic support and export competition, and facilitation for agricultural trade.

Vietnam has concluded negotiations for a number of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), the UK - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA), etc. Stating a deep level of commitment, Vietnam is ready to discuss with WTO member countries all aspects of agricultural negotiations.

According to Minister Le Minh Hoan,  Vietnam is deeply concerned about the increasing application of domestic subsidies that distort trade and agricultural production around the world at present. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam supports calling on members of the World Trade Organization to continue exchanging ideas on this issue at WTO Ministerial Conferences to soon address this issue.

Particularly in the area of agricultural trade reform, Vietnam will continue to support the needs for the growth of the organization’s developing members. Reforms must address inequality and bring fairness to the members. “The MARD is ready to discuss the key factors and issues of agricultural reform in response to climate change, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, aiming to enhance transparency and food security,” said Minister Le Minh Hoan.

Vietnam has actively participated in negotiations on SPS issues in recent years. Minister Le Minh Hoan hoped that WTO Ministers would effectively and strongly implement the "SPS Declaration of the WTO Ministerial Conference" adopted at the twelfth WTO Ministerial Conference.

As for the WTO’s side, Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweal shared with Minister Le Minh Hoan about the commitments that the later members of the WTO, including Vietnam, are executing and said that WTO would put this issue on the agenda, creating a forum for countries to exchange. She also took note of Vietnam’s problems in terms of market access, trade barriers, etc. The WTO Director General expressed hope that Vietnam would soon ratify the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies. At the second stage of negotiations on the ratification of this agreement, the WTO representative asked for Vietnam’s support by sending a representative to assist the negotiation process in Geneva in the near future.

Ms. Ngozi agreed with the opinion of the leader of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on the issue of unfair agricultural trade. “Rich countries and emerging markets greatly support agricultural production. This, however, causes difficulties and unfairness in the field of agricultural trade. Currently, agricultural subsidies are at USD 800 billion, but without reform, there is a high chance that the annual agricultural subsidies would increase to USD 1 trillion by 2030. I also believe that we need to promote negotiation and settle this issue. But I also understand that overcoming this problem requires a multi-stakeholder effort”.