The French representative to the WTO, Francois Riegert, gave a thorough overview of the four main areas of work which were agreed by the G-20: agricultural production in the long run, transparency and information in international markets, international coordination and risk management and financial markets. He said that G-20 ministers had committed to prohibit export barriers for humanitarian purchases by the World Food Programme (WFP) and that the goal was to put forward a specific resolution at the WTO Ministerial Conference in December 2011.

Carmel Cahill from the OECD explained the Agriculture Market Information System (AMIS), which includes a Secretariat, a rapid response team and a technical group tasked with providing information on short-term market forecasts. In Mr Cahill’s opinion, the evidence in front of the inter-agency group indicated that biofuel subsidies and mandates were contributing to food price volatility and should be removed. The inter-agency group had looked at, among other issues, export restrictions recommending that more work was needed to define the circumstances in which export restrictions could be used.

Kostas Stamoulis of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) stressed that in order for food security strategies to be successful, there must be ownership at the national level. At the FAO, the Committee on Food Security plays an important role in improving coherence in this area as it addresses the coordination gap, the knowledge gap, the policy gap and the accountability gap.
Lauren Landis of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) commented on the evolution that the WFP has undergone in order to be better equipped to respond to food emergencies in the context of food price volatility. He stressed the importance of finding agreement on a resolution to prohibit export barriers for humanitarian purchases by the WFP at the WTO Ministerial Conference in December 2011.