G20 - Ministerial meeting on Agriculture

The European Council of Agriculture was briefed by France about the organization of a meeting of the G20 ministers of agriculture on 22 and 23 June in Paris on the price volatility for agricultural commodities.

The objective of the meeting in June is to propose an action plan on the volatility of agricultural prices to be endorsed by the Heads of State Summit scheduled for 3 and 4 November 2011 in Cannes.
France, which currently holds the presidency of the G20, identified the following themes for this meeting: 

• develop agricultural production in the long run in order to match the increasing demand and limit shortages;
• improve market information and transparency in the interests of governments and economic operators with the creation of a joint database on stocks and production;
• improve international coordination in order to enhance confidence in international markets andto prevent and manage food crisis more efficiently e.g. by setting up a specific a world forumable to respond quickly in case of a crisis;
• develop risk management tools for the most vulnerable in order to cope with excessive foodvolatility; and,
• better organise the agricultural markets.
  

The French initiative was strongly supported by member states, some of them insisting on the importance of setting up a specific mechanism to mitigate the speculation on agricultural products.