WTO talks on agriculture to continue following Ministerial Conference

WTO talks on agriculture to continue following Ministerial Conference

Following an inconclusive outcome to the WTO's 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14), which was held from 26-29 March in Yaoundé, Cameroon, talks on agriculture and other unresolved issues are set to continue in Geneva.

The MC14 Chair, Cameroon's trade minister Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, noted the backdrop of geopolitical tensions and a turbulent global trade landscape in his summary remarks at the ministerial conference.

"Notwithstanding the divergences in Members' positions, I was encouraged by Ministers' firm resolve to redouble efforts to bridge gaps and resume the negotiations taking into account the work undertaken thus far by Members, including during this Ministerial Conference," he said, in remarks on agriculture and fisheries subsidies.

Consensus on agriculture eludes ministers

"Agriculture remains a central pillar of WTO negotiations, yet it is also one of the most challenging areas," said Pakistan's Minister of Finance and Railways, Bilal Azhar Kayani, in a report to heads of delegation at the conference, prepared in his capacity as the facilitator of talks on agriculture at MC14.

A draft ministerial declaration on agriculture received "the overwhelming support of almost all Members", the report by the minister-facilitator said, although ultimately consensus on the text could not be achieved.

Deep divergence in priorities and levels of ambition, entrenched negotiating positions, and lack of trust were some of the reasons that WTO members identified as underlying a persistent impasse in the negotiations, he reported.

Agriculture was the focus of one of five Ministerial Sessions held during the conference, along with fisheries subsidies, the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement, e-commerce, and development. During the session, 78 WTO members took the floor.

A background briefing from the WTO Secretariat, issued before the conference, said that the value of agricultural trade has grown approximately five-fold since WTO agriculture negotiations began in 2000 - but that markets remain highly distorted.

Agriculture and food security "crucial"

Agriculture and food security are "crucial to all our members", WTO DG Okonjo-Iweala said in her opening remarks at the conference on 26 March.

A report summarising break-out sessions on WTO reform highlighted ministers' preoccupation with the agrifood sector, as did many of their statements at the opening session.

On 28 March, India tabled a draft declaration on the agriculture negotiations, committing WTO members to prioritise outcomes on unresolved topics that include a permanent solution to the difficulties some developing countries say they face when buying food at administered prices for public stocks.

On the same date, Mali tabled a separate draft declaration on behalf of West African cotton producing countries, the C-4+ (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, plus Côte d'Ivoire).

A group of ten Latin American countries issued a ministerial statement on the agricultural negotiations, as did the G-33, a group of 45 developing countries. Switzerland said that senior officials from the G-10 group of net-food importing countries also met during the conference.

On 31 March, 12 WTO members from different world regions issued a joint statement on a "dialogue on emerging agricultural trade issues," which they said would be open to all of the organisation's members.

WTO DG Okonjo-Iweala told the conference that work on unresolved issues would continue in Geneva.

This article draws on the WTO's April 2026 edition of "News Harvest", online here.