Proceedings of the 13 th Meeting of the
COMCEC Agriculture Working Group
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Key message 5 Trade and related policy objectives address different dimensions of food security,
will differ across countries, and will change over time. The appropriateness of alternative trade
policy options is largely determined by longer term processes of economic transformation and the
role of the agriculture sector within these.
Key message 6 Episodes of food price spikes are important for their potential negative impacts on
food security. Geopolitical and weather uncertainties, as well as government responses, are likely
to exacerbate these episodes in the future, with increasing potential for disruptions to trade flows.
The likelihood of price spikes, even if episodic, needs to be factored into longer-term decisions
related to the management of trade in food and agricultural products.
Key message 7 Trade and food security concerns can be better articulated in the multilateral
trading system through improvements to the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on
Agriculture. However, the right balance needs to be struck between the benefits of collective action
brought through disciplines on the use of trade policy, and the policy space required by developing
countries, the identification of which needs to be informed by specific country-level needs.
Key message 8 Shifting attention from the pros and cons of specific policies towards addressing
weaknesses in the governance processes of agriculture and trade policy making will improve
identification of required policy space and its appropriate use. Strengthening these processes
requires building synergies to increase policy coherence for food security.