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.