JOB/AG/162  
 
24 July 2019 
(19-4914) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Agriculture  
Special Session    
 
REPORT BY AMB. J. R.  D. (DEEP) FORD, CHA IR OF THE COA SPECIA L SESSION,  
TO THE INFORMAL TNC AND HODS MEETING  
19 JULY 2019  
1.   Since the last report to the informal meeting of the Trade Negotiation s Committee on 
3 May 2019, I have held three meetings of the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session and 
back-to-back dedicated discussions on Public Stockholding for Food Security Purposes and Special 
Safeguard Mechanism on 28 May, 20 June and 15 July 2019.  
 
2.   The Members -led Working Groups process, which was ini tiated at the beginning of this year, was 
concluded in June, following extensive discussions on all negotiating topics. In total, 28 Working 
Groups meetings were held: six on Domestic Support, four on PSH, four on Market Access, three  on 
SSM, three  on Expo rt Competition, three  on Export Restrictions and five Cotton Technical Quad Plus 
meetings. The informal compilation of Working Groups reports prepared by the Coordinators on the 
basis of all the meetings was circulated to delegations on 11 July 2019.  
 
3.   Let me take this opportunity to express my gratitude once more to all the Coordinators and the 
Friend of the Chair for the excellent work undertaken in the Working Groups. This process, based on 
the series of questions posed by the Coordinators, achieved its m ain objectives, namely triggering 
more informal and candid in -depth exchanges between delegations on all the issues covered in the 
agriculture negotiations . 
 
4.   Responding to my call for new ideas to help advance the negotiations, a number of submissions 
have been circulated in recent weeks – on Market Access,  Domestic Support and Cotton. The 
submission on Domestic Support, the area where the majority of Members indicate the highest 
priority, presents in the most direct manner options on which Members need to deliberate, first to 
focus the negotiations on areas that have the greatest chance of agreement and then to develop 
and present possible outcomes on which to forge a consensus. Market Access continues to receive 
increasing attention and a meaningful small possible first step was introduced to Members. A new 
detailed paper laying out a possible way forward to achieve an outcome in the long -committed area 
of Cotton is now on the table. A general communication covering a broad range of issues was 
circulated by  the LDC Group. I wish to commend these delegations for tabling these submissions 
which should inject some fresh momentum in the negotiations.  
  
5.   We took stock of the current state of play in the negotiations, topic -by-topic, at the 15 July CoA 
Special Sess ion meeting.  
 
6.   My intention now is to circulate by the end of the month a Reflections and Options Paper 
summarizing my assessment of the state of play in the negotiations, which would also include 
questions to assist Members, as they reflect carefully duri ng the holiday period over the options 
which would narrow the gaps in Members' positions and enable us to make progress in the 
negotiations by identifying  what could constitute doable outcomes on each topic.  
 
7.   After the extensive work that has been undertak en in recent months, Members should now 
identify, categori ze, and classify what is "doable", what is "less likely" and what is "not likely at all" 
to be achieved by MC12, and stand ready to intensify their efforts on the most promising topics, 
addressing d ifferent levels of outcomes, be it an improvement in the rules, clarification of the existing 
rules, and increased transparency, all towards building a trading framework that increases 
opportunities and provides flexibilities to access these opportunities while reducing trade distortions.  
 JOB/AG/162  
 
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  8.   The oft repeated messages in the C oA Special Session  over the past year can hardly be 
misunderstood – they ring in our ears – I will only mention the four messages which I hear with the 
strongest decibels: (1) progress wi ll only be made with increased engagement by all in the room on 
all priorities ; (2) progress will only be made if imbalances are reduced; (3) progress will only be 
made if all contribute equitably , and ( 4) progress will only be made if increased flexibility to seize 
opportunities for production and trade expansion are accompanied by measures that do not inhibit 
the seizing of opportunities, but importantly at the same time do not increase trade -distorting 
support.  
 
9.   We have the messages and the options, we now need to examine which outcomes are feasible 
before MC12.  
 
10.   To this end, I expect Members to prepare new focused and concrete submissions and inputs 
and be ready to engage in the autumn in an intensive and proactive results -oriented negotiation 
phase.  
 
11.   I plan to hold three  CoA Special Session meetings between September and No vember, 
26-27 September, 28-29 October  and 28-29 November , including Dedicated Sessions as mandated. 
These sessions will be comple mented by consultations in various formats on which I will report to 
the CoA  Special Session . 
 
12.   I also plan to explore opportunities that might exist at upcoming high -level meetings, including 
Ministerial gatherings like the World Cotton Day launch on 7 October and WTO Heads of Delegations 
meetings, to make progress.  
 
13.   I trust that a step -by-step process, during the coming months, focusing on specific topics in 
each area, might enable Members to arrive at an incremental package that they can achieve 
consen sus on. The sooner we identify the "doable " elements and negotiate around them , the more 
likely we are to achieve a meaningful outcome.  
 
 
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