WTO MINISTERIAL COMMITMENTS FROM NAIROBI

The document evaluates the progress of WTO commitments made at the 10th Ministerial Conference (MC10) in Nairobi, specifically regarding agriculture and least-developed countries (LDCs). It highlights significant implementation gaps, such as the lack of a permanent solution for public stockholding for food security and the slow pace of eliminating agricultural export subsidies. The paper notes a fundamental disagreement between developed and developing nations over whether to prioritize the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) or introduce new 21st-century trade issues. For South Africa, the authors recommend aligning with the Africa Group on regional integration and industrialization, supporting the G33 proposal on public stockholding, and backing the ACP proposal on fisheries subsidies to support its own ocean economy.

• WTO members have not yet reached a permanent solution for public stockholding for food security purposes, despite commitments made at MC9 and MC10. The G33 coalition proposes that developing countries be exempt from counting food purchased at minimum prices toward their trade-distorting support limits.
• While developed countries agreed to eliminate agricultural export subsidies immediately at MC10 and developing countries by the end of 2018, implementation has been slow. As of the report's writing, Australia was the only member to have notified the WTO of its implementation and phase-out on 17 February 2017.
• There is a deep divide regarding agricultural domestic support reform. Some members advocate for an overall limit on support, while others, including China and India, argue that aggregate measurement of support (AMS) entitlements must be eliminated first. The US has conditioned its own domestic support reductions on similar actions by China and India.
• The Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM) for developing countries remains contentious. While the G33 argues it is essential to protect resource-poor small-scale farmers from food price volatility, countries including Russia, Australia, and New Zealand have called for its elimination.
• Implementation of preferential rules of origin for LDCs has seen little progress; the report states that no preference-granting member had notified the Committee on Rules of Origin about implementing the Nairobi Decision provisions.
• Fisheries subsidies have emerged as a new priority issue outside the DDA, linked to Sustainable Development Goal 14.6. Proposals include prohibiting subsidies linked to overcapacity and illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, with the ACP proposal specifically targeting large-scale commercial fishing.
• The agenda for MC11 remains uncertain due to a lack of consensus on whether to continue the Doha Development Agenda or shift to new issues. A critical point of contention is the US's dissatisfaction with the WTO's Appellate Body (AB) dispute settlement mechanism.

APA

Tigere, F., & Siziba, C. (2017). WTO MINISTERIAL COMMITMENTS FROM NAIROBI. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/GA_Th3_DP-Tigere-Siziba_20171205.pdf

Chicago

Tigere, Faith, and Clarence Siziba. WTO MINISTERIAL COMMITMENTS FROM NAIROBI. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2017. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/GA_Th3_DP-Tigere-Siziba_20171205.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Tigere |first1=Faith |last2=Siziba |first2=Clarence |title=WTO MINISTERIAL COMMITMENTS FROM NAIROBI |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=November 2017 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/GA_Th3_DP-Tigere-Siziba_20171205.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{tigere2017wto, author = {Tigere, Faith and Siziba, Clarence}, title = {{WTO MINISTERIAL COMMITMENTS FROM NAIROBI}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2017}, month = nov, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/GA_Th3_DP-Tigere-Siziba_20171205.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }