Africa After Cancun: Trade Negotiations in Uncertain Times

The report examines the collapse of the 2003 WTO Cancun ministerial, attributing the failure to disagreements over agricultural subsidies and the 'Singapore issues'. It highlights the emergence of the G20+ as a powerful developing-country bloc and argues that African nations must move beyond a reliance on aid toward export-led growth. The text analyzes specific challenges, including the 'peace clause' expiry, pharmaceutical patent deals (TRIPs), and the internal dynamics of the Africa Group. It concludes that while market access is a primary goal, African countries must address supply-side constraints—such as poor infrastructure and failure to meet international sanitary and phytosanitary standards—to actually utilize trade concessions.

• The collapse of the Cancun WTO ministerial was driven by long-term differences over agricultural liberalisation and a draft text that failed to address the devastating impact of US and EU cotton subsidies on West African farmers.
• The G20+ coalition, led by Brazil, China, India, and South Africa, emerged as a significant force to challenge the protectionist agricultural policies of the US and EU, though it faced internal tensions between pragmatic and inflexible members.
• African nations argue that trade and export-led growth are the only viable paths to break the cycle of poverty, as development aid is viewed as a "recipe for permanent poverty."
• The 'peace clause' (Article 13 of the Agreement on Agriculture), which protects major subsidisers from legal challenges, was set to expire in December 2003, potentially allowing African countries to bring agricultural disputes against Europe.
• The WTO deal on pharmaceutical patents (TRIPs and Public Health) is criticized as practically unworkable due to complex criteria for compulsory licenses and the difficulty of calculating remuneration for patent holders.
• African countries frequently fail to utilize existing duty-free market access, such as EU beef quotas, due to supply-side constraints including poor infrastructure, outdated farming methods, and inability to meet sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards.
• The Africa Group within the WTO (AGW) faces challenges to its unity because some members rely on unilateral trade preferences from the EU, which can conflict with the goal of total agricultural liberalisation.
• South Africa occupies an 'ambiguous and awkward' position within the Africa Group, balancing its solidarity with less developed African nations against its own ambitions as an emerging industrial economy.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2003). Africa After Cancun: Trade Negotiations in Uncertain Times. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/2-tr2cancun.pdf

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Africa After Cancun: Trade Negotiations in Uncertain Times. 2003. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/2-tr2cancun.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Africa After Cancun: Trade Negotiations in Uncertain Times |date=November 2003 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/2-tr2cancun.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2003africa, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Africa After Cancun: Trade Negotiations in Uncertain Times}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2003}, month = nov, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/2-tr2cancun.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }