   
  
G/L/1332  
 
1 November 2019  
(19-7430) Page: 1/4 
   
 
REPORT (2019) ON THE  ACTIVITIES OF THE C OMMITTEE ON AGRICULT URE 
REPORT BY THE CHAIRP ERSON  
1.1.  The present draft report is being circulated by the Chairperson of the Committee on Agriculture 
on her own responsibility. This report provides a summary of the activities of the Committee on 
Agriculture ("the Committee") during 201 9. 
1.2.  The Committee held three formal meetings in 201 9 on 2 6-27 February, 25-26 June, 
and 30-31 October .1 Informal meetings were held on 2 5 February, 24 June and 29 October. 
Ms. Débora  Cumes of Guatemala was the Chairperson for the February meeting of the Committee. 
The Committee el ected  Ms. Christiane Daleiden Distefano of Luxemburg as the new Chairperson 
for 2019-2020 beginning with the June meeting.  
1.3.  In accordance with Article 18.1 of the Agreement on Agriculture ("the Agreement") at each of 
its meetings the Committee reviewed progress in the implementation of Members' commitments. 
This review process is undertaken on the basis of notifications submitt ed by Members in the areas 
of market access, domestic support, export competition, export prohibitions and restrictions as well 
as under the follow -up to the Marrakesh Ministerial Decision on NFIDCs. Between 1  January and 
29 October 2019, 390 agriculture n otifications of all types were circulated.  
1.4.  In 201 9, Members posed 241 questions on 140 notifications during the Committee's review 
process. These questions were distributed as follows: 70% related  to domestic support issues, 
22% to market access, and 8% to export competition.2 Specific concerns were also raised regarding 
the outstanding notifications that some Members had yet to submit to the Committee.   
1.5.  The Committee in 2019 received two counter -notifications from Members pursuant to 
Article  18.7 of the Ag reement. The joint communication from Australia, Canada and t he 
United  States presented calculations and findings in respect of certain measures by India providing 
market price support to pulses whereas Indonesia's submission dealt with the trigger price o f instant 
coffee and extracts of coffee notified by the Philippines in G/AG/N/PHL/27 and G/AG/N/PHL/53 for 
the purposes of invocation of SSG.3 
1.6.  Members also raised a  wide range of matters relevant to the implementation of commitments 
independently of notifi cations under the provisions of Article 18.6 of the Agreement. A total of 
98 specific implementation matters  (SIMs) were raised by 12 Members during 2019. Out of these, 
58 SIMs were discussed for the first time in 201 9. The remaining matters  were discussed on one or 
more occasions  in previous years ; two of these SIMs have been brought up in 14 CoA meetings.  
1.7.  In response to the observed steady increase over the last years in the number of outstanding 
responses to questions raised during the Review, at the request of the chairperson , the Secretariat 
circulates before each Committee meeting  a list of outstanding responses under the CoA review 
process.4 Since the beginning of this mo nitoring exercise in 2018, there has been a reduction of 
23% in outstanding responses for questions raised from 2012 -2017. The chair welcomed this 
                                                
1 The summary reports of these meetings are contained in documents G/AG/R/ 91, G/AG/R/ 92, and 
G/AG/R/93  (to be issued).  
2 See G/AG/W/ 194, G/AG/W/ 199, and G/AG/W/ 202. 
3 G/AG/W/1 93 and G/AG/W/ 200. 
4 G/AG/W/177 , G/AG/W/177/Rev.1  and G/AG/W/195 series.  G/L/1332  
 
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  improved transparency and encouraged Members to submit their outstanding responses at their 
earliest convenie nce.  
1.8.  At each meeting the Committee reviewed the status of Members' compliance with their 
notification obligations under the Agreement. A document summarizing the status of compliance 
with notification requirements was circulated at each Committee meeting.5 While a significant 
proportion of notifications are still outstanding (about 25% of all notifications from 1995 -2017), 
Members continue to make efforts to bring their notification record up to date ; 2019 will become the 
year with the highest number of no tifications submitted in a year (371 notifications as 
of 22 October  2019) .  
1.9.  With respect to the work of the Committee related specifically to NFIDCs, the WTO list of 
NFIDCs6 remained unchanged. The Committee undertook the annual monitoring of the f ollow-up to 
the Ministerial Decision on Measures Concerning the Possible Negative Effects of the Reform 
Programme on Least developed and Net Food -Importing Developing Countries (NFIDC) at the 
October 2019 meeting. The Secretariat circulated a background note7 to facilitate the annual 
NF discussions. The Inter -American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) , the International 
Grains Council (IGC) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) also contributed to the 
NF monitoring.8 Within the Committee's monitoring of the follow -up to the NFIDC Decision, Members 
continued to reflect on the review of the provisions on international food aid contained in the Nairobi 
Decision  on Export Competition as mandated in its paragraph 32.9  
1.10.   At the October 2019 CoA meeting, the Committee undertook the consultations with respect 
to Members' participation in the normal growth of world trade. The exercise, conducted annually 
pursuant to Article 18.5 of the Agreement on Agriculture, was supported by a  background note10 by 
the Secretariat.  
1.11.   The Committee maintained a standing item on its agenda relating to implementation issues, 
both in the framework of its follow -up to the Decision by the Doha Ministerial Conference on 
Implementation -Related Issues and Concerns11, as well as in the framework of issues and proposals 
referred to it by the General Council. No Member commented under this agenda item in  2019 
meetings.  
1.12.   The Committee also discussed follow -up to the Ministerial outcomes, specifically related to 
(i) the Understanding on Tariff Rate Quota Administration Provisions of Agricultural Products, as 
defined in Article 2 of the Agreement on Agriculture; and (ii) the Nairobi Ministerial Decision on 
Export Competition. No information was provided by Members i n the context of the monitoring 
foreseen under the Bali Decision on Public Stockholding for Food Security purposes.  
1.13.   Review of the Bali Decision on TRQ administration is called for in that Decision.12 The objective 
of the review is to promote a continuing p rocess of improvement in the utilization of tariff rate quotas 
and the General Council shall take decisions on the  recommendations arising from  the review , 
including on the future operation of paragraph 4 of the underfill mechanism,  no later than 
31 Decemb er 2019. The review continued in 2019 primarily through open -ended informal meetings 
of the Committee and was agreed to be concluded in June 2019 as per the agreed process and 
timelines.13 The deadline was later extended to the October 2019 meeting of the Committee.14 
Written submission  on behalf of the Cairns Group15 and the EU16 were circulated in 2019 to assist 
                                                
5 G/AG/GEN/86/Rev.30, G/AG/GEN/86/Rev.31, G/AG/GEN/86/Rev.32 and G/AG/GEN/86/Rev.33.  
6 G/AG/5/Rev.10.  
7 G/AG/W/42/Rev.20.  
8 G/AG/GEN/154, G/AG/GEN/155 and G/AG/GEN/156.  
9 WT/MIN(15)/45, para. 32.  
10 G/AG/W/32/Rev.18.  
11 WT/MIN(01)/17, para. 2. 
12 WT/MIN(13)/39 , para. 13.  
13 G/AG/W/171 . 
14 G/AG/R/92, para. 3.27.  
15 G/AG/W/1 97. 
16 G/AG/W/175 /Add.1 . G/L/1332  
 
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  the review discussions. At the October 2019 meeting, the Committee adopted the report17 of the 
review and the associated recommendations for tran smission to the General Council for a decision.  
1.14.   The follow -up to the Nairobi Ministerial Decision on Export Competition covered three main 
items: the annual dedicated discussion, Members' update on their efforts to modify export subsidy 
schedules and the first triennial Review of the Nairobi Decision. The dedicated discussion on export 
competition occurred during the June 201 9 meeting. The discussions were held on the basis of the 
Secretariat's background document. Following the meeting, a revised backgrou nd document 
compiling all the information received by the Secretariat was circulated on 18 September 201 918 
concluding this examination process. During the Committee , Members exchanged questions and 
responses on specific measures in relation to the implemen tation of the Nairobi Decision.19 The 
Cairns Group circulated a paper as an input to the dedicated discussion.20 The paper considered the 
alignment of Members ' reported policies with the Nairobi Decision.  
1.15.   At each Committee meeting in 201 9 Members provided i nformation regarding their efforts to 
advance on the modification of their scheduled export subsidy commitments pursuant to the Nairobi 
Decision.  The situation on 30 October 2019 was as follows: out of the 16 Members with export 
subsidy reduction commitmen ts at the time of the Decision, 11 Members had their schedule revised 
pursuant to the Nairobi Decision certified and two other Members had submitted their revised draft 
schedule in 2017 where the certification has been pending; three Members reported on st eps taken 
to implement the Decision.   
1.16.   The Committee discussed enhancing transparency and the CoA Review process in three  
informal meetings in 201 9. The Committee meeting discussed possible enhancements to 
the AG-IMS, the system that contains information on  all agriculture notifications, as well as all 
questions and responses provided by Members during the CoA Review process . The Committee also 
continued discuss ions aimed at improving Members'  notification compliance.  
1.17.   Several database tools support the Commi ttee's monitori ng and transparency functions. 
Since  2012, t he AG -IMS platform has facilitated Member submission of questions and responses in 
the context of the Committee's monitoring of implementation of commitments. At the October  2019 
CoA meeting, the  Secretariat launched the on-line agriculture notification sy stem21 for use by all 
Members . The Secretariat also informed Members about the ongoing work on improvements to the 
AG-IMS Q&A system based on Members suggestions.  
1.18.   The WTO's Agriculture and Commodities Division delivered the tenth Geneva -based workshop 
on ag riculture notifications from 30 April to 3 May . It was organized in collaboration with the Institute 
for Training and Technical Cooperation with the purpose of facilitating the preparation and review of 
agriculture notifications. A total of 30 capital -based participants from developing countr ies were 
funded by the WTO. The workshop included practical exercises related to the review process of the 
Committee on Agriculture and hands -on training on the Agriculture Information Management 
System  (AG-IMS). Partic ipants were able to practice the preparation of notifications using the test 
site of the online notification  system . As in previous activities, the last day of the 201 9 workshop 
was devoted to individual sessions with AGCD staff, offering participants the opportunity to consult 
on unfulfilled notification obligations.  
1.19.   Additionally, t here w ere nine more technical assistance activities carried out in 201 9 covering 
the Agreement on Agriculture, including three regional seminars fo r Anglophone Africa, Asia and  
Pacific Region, and Latin America; and six national workshops carried out in Benin, the 
Kyrgyz  Republic, Mexico, Mongolia, Tonga, and Uzbekistan.22 Two of these workshops focused 
specifically on Agriculture notifications. T he Chair reminded Members that they could approach the 
Secretariat for technical assistance , including to request national activities  in their capital , to improve 
their notification  performance .  
                                                
17 G/AG/29.  
18 G/AG/W/125/Rev. 11, G/AG/W/125/Rev. 11/Add.1 - G/AG/W/125/Rev. 11/Add.4 
and G/AG/W/125/Rev. 11/Add.2/Corr.1.  
19 G/AG/W/1 98. 
20 G/AG/W/ 201 and G/AG/W/ 201/Corr.1. 
21 http://agims.wto.org/ . 
22 As of 30 October 2019.  G/L/1332  
 
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  1.20.   The following international intergovernmental organizations have regular observer status in 
the Committee: Food and Agriculture Organization, International Monetary Fund, the International 
Grains Council, OECD, UNCTAD, World Food Programme, and the World B ank. The renewal of ad hoc 
observer status for the Inter -American Institute for Agricultural Cooperation (IICA) for 20 20 was 
agreed by the Committee at its October 2019  meeting.  
 
1.21.   At the October 2019 CoA meeting, the Chairperson announced the dates of the meetings of 
the Committee on Agriculture in 2020.23  
 
 
__________  
                                                
23 G/AG/GEN/157.  