Ukraine has become the 20th member of The Cairns Group, created within the World Trade Organization (WTO) and uniting countries that advocate greater liberalization of international trade in agricultural products.

As stated in a report on the group's website, this decision was made by the ministers of the Cairns Group at the 43rd meeting in Abu Dhabi on February 25 of this year.

"We are pleased to welcome Ukraine as a new member of the Cairns Group, noting Ukraine's shared commitment to open, fair, market oriented agricultural trading system," the document notes.

Prior to this, since January 2020, Ukraine had observer status in this informal group in the WTO, and began negotiations on joining it back in 2009.

At the last meeting, ministers said that The agriculture negotiations are at a critical juncture. Agriculture remains the most important unfinished business of the WTO and should be at the heart of ongoing reform efforts. The Cairns Group is committed to achieving greater fairness and a levelling of the playing field in agriculture through ambitious and comprehensive agriculture trade reform in line with Article 20 of the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA).

The ministers also said that Levels of domestic support are at record highs and are growing. Notified domestic support levels reached $610 billion in 2019 – around four times global aid levels. The majority of global agricultural support to producers is considered price distorting or harmful to the environment. Distortionary support is concentrated on just a few products by just a few WTO Members. This is to the detriment of smaller and unsubsidised producers.

"We call for an outcome that caps and reduces by at least half overall trade-and production-distorting domestic support entitlements within 10 years, on the basis of proportionality, where the Members with the biggest entitlements and potential to distort markets make the biggest contributions. This reform should address product-specific concentrations of support, including in relation to cotton," the group said in a statement.

The group also said that a holistic approach to agricultural trade reform will need to include market access. Trade in agricultural products continues to be particularly affected by tariffs and other barriers. The group called on members to step up efforts to achieve substantial improvements in market access for agricultural products, to create more equitable conditions for international trade across the board.

"We underline our concern with the restrictive implications of recent unilateral trade-related environmental measures undertaken by some WTO Members. We call on Members to ensure that such measures are not designed for protectionist purposes, and do not amount to unjustified trade restrictions or impose excessive compliance requirements and costs," said the Cairns group.

The Cairns Group was created in 1986 by WTO member countries with a large share of agricultural exports. The group includes 19 countries: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Guatemala, Colombia, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Chile.