JP/13/G33

JP/13/G33

G-33 ministers to meet in Jakarta this weekend

Zakki P. Hakim
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Ministers from the "Group of 33" developing countries will meet
here over the weekend to reaffirm their commitment to fight for
special and differential treatment for staple farm products at
the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The meeting would be a formal meeting to consolidate the G-
33's position and strategy ahead of the WTO ministerial meeting
in December in Hong Kong.

A senior officials meeting on Friday would be a prelude to the
ministerial meeting to be held at the Borobudur Hotel on June 11
and 12.

The Ministry of Trade said that representatives including
ministers and senior officials from 42 countries would take part
in the meeting.

The group is faced with the urgent task of producing criteria
for the protection of farm products under the concept of a
"Special Product and Special Safeguard Mechanism (SP-SSM)",
Indonesian Minister of Trade Mari E. Pangestu said an informal
meeting here in April.

Indonesia leads the group fighting for SP-SSM in the WTO to
protect staple foodstuffs, such as rice, sugar, soybeans and
corn, from such things as excessive cuts in customs duties in the
WTO and influxes of cheap imports.

The G-33's goal is to ensure that issues of food security,
livelihood security and rural development become an integral part
of current WTO trade negotiations and outcomes, as called for by
the Doha Development Agenda.