RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/NOP/W/8
21February 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-0652)
Original: English Working Group onNotification
Obligations andProcedures
Communication from theUnited States
Thefollowing communication hasbeensubmitted bytheUnited States Trade Representative
forcirculation totheWorking Group onNotification Obligations andProcedures.
________________
NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS UNDER THE AGREEMENT ON
SUBSIDIES AND COUNTERVAILING MEASURES UNDER
THE AGREEMENT ONAGRICULTURE
- Theobject ofthisexercise isbothtostreamline andharmonize notification requirements where
doing sodoesnotdetract from thetransparency orsubstantive obligations oftheagreements
concerned.
- Webelieve thatthere issignificant potential forachieving bothgoals inthecontext ofthe
Subsidies andAgriculture Agreements.
1. Subsidies Agreement: Consider eliminating requirements toprovide information onsubsidy
perunitandontrade effects, except where information isreasonably available for
commodity-specific programmes
- First, withrespect totheSubsidies Agreement, twoelements which webelieve needtobe
examined aretheinformation onsubsidy perunitandontheestimated trade effects ofasubsidy.
- Except inthecaseofcommodity-specific subsidy programmes (agricultural orotherwise), the
information typically provided withrespect tosubsidy perunitandstatistics ofproduction,
consumption, imports andexports iseither oflittleusefulness (duetoitsestimated nature) or
cannot reasonably beobtained.
- These reporting requirements wereenvisaged decades ago,when mostsubsidies werestructured
explicitly tospurtheproduction orexport ofspecific products, whereas today increasingly
more programmes aredesigned tobenefit avariety ofproducts andsectors andarenotdirectly
linked toproduction orexport promotion (e.g., regional development orR&D subsidies).
- Moreover, hardly anyMember provides information ontradeeffects, either because itishighly
speculative orbecause itseems anadmission against self-interest -or,more frequently, for
bothreasons.
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- Thedifficulty(ifnotnearimpossibility)ofdevelopingsuchinformationis,infact,acknowledged
intheformat adopted bytheSubsidies Committee forsubsidy notifications under Article 25
oftheSubsidiesAgreementandArticleXVI:1oftheGATT1994.Forthesereasons,webelieve
thatthisisanareawhere theWorking Party could giveserious consideration tostreamlining
requirements without rendering subsidy notifications lessuseful orinformative.
2. Thenotification format usedunder theAgreement onAgriculture could beadapted tosatisfy
thesubstantive requirements ofboththeSubsidies andtheAgriculture Agreements
- Ironically, oneoftheareas inwhich statistical dataremains relatively easytoidentify iswith
respect tocommodity-specific agricultural programmes. Ifanything, theAgreement on
Agriculture canbesaidtoimpose evenmore exacting statistical reporting requirements than
doestheSubsidies Agreement, atleastinthose areas where statistics canreliably bedeveloped
withoutengaginginexcessivespeculation(aswhenonetriesto"estimate"asubsidyprogramme's
trade effects).
- Therefore, totheextent thatwearetalking about subsidy programmes forwhich statistical
dataisreasonably obtainable, theAgriculture Agreements 'requirements areatleast as
informative (ifnotmore so)astherequirements oftheSubsidies Agreement. Moreover,
although thereisnoexplicit requirement inthecurrent Agriculture Committee reporting formats
toprovide information onaperunitbasis, those caneasily calculate perunitsubsidies onthe
basis ofthedataprovided.
- Where theAgriculture Agreement 'srequirements maybesomewhat lacking iswithrespect
toqualitative descriptions ofanotified subsidy programme, suchasiscalled forunder the
Subsidies Agreement (e.g.formofsubsidy, duration, policy objectives andmanner inwhich
theprogramme operates).
- Thiskindofinformation, however, should berelatively easytoincorporate intothenotification
format adopted bytheAgriculture Committee, andcould infacthelptofacilitate that
Committee 'sreview ofagricultural schedules.
- Thus, byexamining thepossibility ofmaking certain modifications andadditions tothe
notification format employed bytheAgriculture Committee, wemaybeabletoidentify ameans
ofnotifying aconsolidated setofinformation which meets thesubstantive requirements ofboth
agreements, rationalizes theburden ofcollecting andorganizing information onagriculture
programmes, andenhances thequality ofinformation provided totheAgriculture Committee
without, overall, imposing anyadditional reporting burdens onMembers.
3. Consolidated information onagriculture subsidy programmes should bereported, infull,to
boththeAgriculture Committee andtheSubsidies Committee
- Insuggesting thattheAgriculture Committee 'sformat beexamined forpossible adaptations,
weareNOT suggesting thatsuchinformation bereported exclusively totheAgriculture
Committee.Indeed,wewouldevenbeopposedtotheideaofcross-referencingsuchinformation
inMembers 'subsidy notifications.
- Rather, ourthinking atthisstageismerely thataconsolidated format bedeveloped which could
serve equally wellforthereporting ofagriculture subsidy information tobothCommittees.
Thismeasure of"duplication" ishardly daunting inaneraofelectronic word anddata
processing, anditmaintains consistency withthemanner inwhich theUruguay Round
agreements address thetreatment ofsubsidies intheagricultural sector.