Agriculture Ministry: Kazakhstan considering joining the Cairn Group

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - Kazakhstan is considering joining the Cairns Group, this has been announced by Minister of Agriculture Asylzhan Mamytbekov at a press conference in Central Communications Service.

Cairns Group is an association of exporters of agricultural products founded in 1986 in Cairns (Australia). The Cairns Group seeks to liberalize global trade in agricultural produce. In particular, its members aim to abolish export subsidies and trade-distorting, domestic support for agricultural products and seek to improve market access for agricultural exports. At the beginning of 2007, the group consisted of 19 countries including Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand and Uruguay. According to Mamytbekov, the experience of the Cairns Group is different from the experience of those countries aiming at production restraint. The purpose of the Cairns group member-states is to increase production, improve the efficiency of labor productivity in agriculture. That is why, at the moment, Kazakhstan is considering the possibility of joining the Cairns Group," said A.Mamytbekov. However, he noted that it is impossible to name the exact date the country's accession to the coalition.