The ministers of the G-20 group of emerging and developing countries called for an end to all subsidies on agricultural exports within five years, according to a unanimous closing statement issued Saturday in New Delhi. The common goal of the G-20 is to end the trade-inhibiting policies towards developing countries in agriculture, the statement said. The G-20, which met for two days in the Indian capital, wanted to hammer out a common position ahead of the next round of WTO negotiations slated for December in Hong Kong. The ministers of the now 21-strong alliance had harsh words for those industrialized states like the U.S. and E.U. members that support their farmers with billions in subsidies. Prices are held artificially low and the livelihoods of billions of farmers in developing countries put in jeopardy by these state subsidies, the group said. The removal of subsidies would help growth in developing nations and contribute to their integration into the world trade system. "We need rules that are fair for all countries in the world," India's trade minister Kamal Nath said. China's envoy, Yi Xiaozhun, dubbed the meeting "extremely important and a milestone".
