BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – Minister for Commerce, Industry and Trade Manqoba Khumalo pleads with the international community to give Eswatini a chance to attain food security.
Khumalo made this plea yesterday when making a presentation during the Intervention on Negotiations on Agriculture Trade Reforms at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), 13th Ministerial Conference (MC-13) Meeting in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UEA). The meeting started on February 26 and is expected to end tomorrow (February 29).
Speaking during the meeting, Minister Khumalo said developing countries such as Eswatini needed to be given a chance to attain food security. “We must prioritise levelling the playing field to give Least Developed Countries (LDC’s) a chance of attaining food security, especially the Net Food Importing Development countries like Eswatini,” Khumalo said.
He further said discussions should enable Public Stock-Holding guidelines to be agreed by MC-14 in order to address the food security concern meaningfully. The Minister said this was a critical for developing countries.
The Minister was of the view that domestic support should be prioritised for developing countries in order to afford them access to markets that would otherwise be beyond their reach. The process should emphasise on fairness, transparency and inclusivity, according to Khumalo.
Khumalo also told the meeting that focus should be given only to the text that remained in brackets, as highlighted by Cameroon so that tangible progress could be made towards making resolutions possible by MC 14. He said the balance and prioritisation on topics should be biased towards agricultural trade reform rather than more of the same debates that had historically not led to meaningful progress in the critical areas under discussion.
Acording to the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the Ministerial Conference is a forum for trade ministers and high-level representatives, MC13 provides an opportunity for WTO members to convene and approve new multilateral trade rules, incorporate new members into the organization, and discuss critical reforms.
The last Ministerial, MC12, delivered important outcomes, including an agreement to curb harmful fisheries subsidies. Can this momentum be sustained, and what can negotiations during this Ministerial deliver? Decisions could have far-reaching implications for the global trade landscape, sustainability, and the environment.
