ISLAMABAD, June 12: The G-33 member states have emphasised for an early convergence on critical instruments of special products (SPs) and special safeguard mechanism (SSM) to ensure maximum benefit to developing countries under the current round of negotiations.

The message of the group came following a meeting of the ministers and high officials of the group in Geneva.

Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan represented Pakistan in the meeting.

An official announcement said the ministers of the group underscored that mandate on Special Products does not require developing countries to provide any compensation, including thorough tariff quota commitments.

Ministers were firm that some SPs shall be exempted from tariff reduction, while others shall have lesser cuts. They, however, welcomed the readiness of developed members to discuss, in greater detail, the indicators that will guide the self-selection of SPs.

They reiterated that the revised list of indicators discussed in the last G-33 ministerial meeting in Jakarta and which was supported by the ACP, Africa and SVE groups, should serve as the basis for these discussions.

They also reaffirmed that the SSM remained an integral part of the modalities of the WTO agriculture negotiations.

They underscored that, in the absence of safety nets in developing countries, an effective and operable SSM would be the only instrument which can cushion developing countries’ farmers against import surges or price declines. They emphasised that SSM should be available to all agriculture products and that the import price and import volume triggers, applied separately, should alone determine which product needs the invocation of the SSM at any given time.

They reiterated that to uphold the integrity of special and differential treatment, the terms and conditions of the mechanism should be more favourable than the existing provisions of Article 5 of the Agreement on Agriculture.

The ministers reaffirmed the Jakarta Communique and the unity of the G-33 and their common commitment to engage constructively with other developing country alliances .