The Concept Note Development and Capacity Building Workshop
Technical Assistance II
As an agricultural nation, Indonesia is committed to protecting the interests of its smallholder and impoverished farmers and ensuring food security, particularly in the face of current global crises and challenges. Consequently, the country is actively engaged in various negotiations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) concerning agricultural issues. Notably, Indonesia chairs the G-33, a coalition of 47 developing and least developed countries (LDCs), playing a pivotal role in advocating for the rights and flexibilities of these nations in agricultural negotiations.
Nevertheless, despite being launched in March 2000, the agricultural negotiations have stalled, showing no significant progress. At both the 12th and 13th WTO Ministerial Conferences, no agreement was reached on advancing agricultural reform; however, the discussions were at least maintained to keep negotiations ongoing.
Given the impasse at the WTO and the recent lack of progress in agricultural negotiations, coupled with the Indonesian Government’s commitment to protecting its smallholder farmers, the Directorate General of International Trade Negotiation at the Ministry of Trade, in collaboration with ARISE+ Indonesia, organised a capacity-building workshop on 29 May 2024 in Bandung.
This workshop was designed to present and discuss a concept paper on the WTO negotiations on agriculture. The paper is one of six topics developed by ARISE+ Indonesia, aiming to strengthen the expertise of the Ministry of Trade's officials in various areas related to non-tariff measures (NTMs), trade reform, and sustainability, to effectively represent Indonesia's interests in trade negotiations. The other five topics, including the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism, Data Protection, Fisheries Subsidies, the Environment, and MSMEs, have been presented and discussed in previous months.
ARISE+ Indonesia's senior experts on trade negotiations, Paul Baker and Andras Lakotos, presented the paper, which reviewed the current status of the negotiations with a focus on the issue of 'Public Stockholding for Food Security Purposes.' It also discussed the divergence of interests among members, leading to the resistance of some countries to making progress, and explored potential strategies to advance the negotiations.
The event brought together trade negotiators and analysts from the Directorate of the World Trade Organisation Negotiations, and officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Food Agency (Bapanas), and representatives from Bulog, a state-owned food logistics company.
In his remarks, Adityo Dewantoro, Head of the Agriculture and Food Security Negotiation Team, speaking on behalf of the Director of WTO Negotiations, said that the workshop is expected to develop an effective framework to address the challenges in the agriculture negotiations. The workshop is also expected to serve as a platform to establish an internal mechanism that will enhance understanding of the relevant processes and rules under the WTO, and promote better coordination and collaboration among relevant government agencies.
Goldy Simatupang, a Trade Negotiator in the Directorate of WTO Negotiation, praised the recent workshop, highlighting the valuable insights shared by the ARISE+ Indonesia's experts. "The discussion with Paul and Andras was incredibly informative. Their deep understanding of the issues and recent developments in agricultural negotiations provided us with critical perspectives," Goldy remarked. She also emphasised the significance of the concept note, stating, "A comprehensive analysis of the current state of some key proposals in the agriculture negotiations within the WTO framework, delving into specific aspects of contentious agricultural discussions amidst complexities of food security issues, will be highly beneficial to enrich the perspective of our negotiators and teams from other relevant ministries."
