00-1244 MOREPRESS RELEASE
PRESS/172
27 March 2000
AGRICULTURE NEGOTIATIONS
23–24 March 2000
TALKS REACH SWIFT AGREEMENT ON ‘PHASE 1’
In their first meeting on 23–24 March, WTO agriculture negotiators reached quick agreement
on the timetable for the first phase of negotiations.
WTO members will submit proposals setting out negotiating objectives by the end of this year
— with some flexibility allowing new or more detailed proposals early in 2001 — to enable allgovernments enough time to examine them and take stock at a meeting in March 2001.
Delegates also agreed to conduct technical work on agricultural subsidies and protection
within the framework of Article 20 of the Agriculture Agreement (see below), and to hold negotiating
sessions in June, September, November 2000 and possibly January 2001.
“The meeting was constructive and businesslike,” said WTO Director-General Mike Moore.
“Delegates had clearly done their homework. They’d found out from each other exactly what could be
achieved and spoke almost as one voice. Several said they would have preferred the talks to go faster
or to give them more time, or for the talks to be organized differently, but they didn’t dwell on thisand so they reached consensus swiftly.
“This is the WTO working at its best. The hard bargaining still lies ahead, and I’m sure that
will be much more difficult. But the goodwill shown at this meeting is a good omen for the future,” he
said.
“It’s also clear that delegations have not allowed their differences over picking a chairperson
to obstruct the negotiations,” Mr Moore added.
The new negotiations on agriculture have to start this year under the deal struck at the end of
the 1986–94 Uruguay Round of multilateral trade talks. It is written into Article 20 of the WTO
Agriculture Agreement, part of the Uruguay Round package.
WTO members have not yet agreed on a chairperson for the negotiations, and under an
interim solution agreed by the WTO General Council, Ambassador Roger Farrell of New Zealand, the
chairperson of the Goods Council, presided over the 23–24 March meeting.PRESS/172
Page 2/3
MOREGeneral Council chairperson Kåre Bryn and his Goods Council counterpart, Ambassador
Farrell, are continuing consultations with member governments on a chairperson for agriculture.Ambassador Bryn has said he hopes to have agreement on this by the next meeting.
The decision reached on 24 March deals with the “first phase” of the negotiations and
contains three parts (see text below):
1. Technical work : countries need information on what’s been happening in agriculture and the
effects of the current round of reductions in subsidies and protection, in order to negotiate the next
stage. This is also required under Article 20 of the Agriculture Agreement. The secretariat will
compile the factual information and has been assign ed a set of tasks for the next meeting at the
end of June 2000.
2. Date for receiving proposals : countries can submit proposals from now until the end of
December, with a little flexibility for those who cannot meet that date or want to make additions.
In March 2001, the committee will take stock of the proposals, so they must have arrived in time
for all members to examine all the proposals by that meeting.
3. Timetable of meetings : in the first phase these will take place in June, September and November
2000, and March 2001 — all as “special sessions” of the Agriculture Committee, taking place
immediately before or after regular committee meetings —  with the possibility of an extra
January 2001 meeting.
No date has been set yet for concluding the talks.Countries also made general statements about their positions on agriculture, largely echoing
what they had said before Seattle (see also a background document prepared for the Ministerial
Conference : http://www.wto.org/wto/seattle/english/about_e/07ag_e.htm).
Several Cairns Group members (Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile,
Colombia, Costa Rica, Fiji, Guatemala, Indonesia,  Malaysia, New Zealand, Paraguay, Philippines,
South Africa, Thailand and Uruguay) also stressed that they consider the agriculture negotiations to be
“stand-alone” because they obtained the commitment to resume negotiations in return for the
moderate reforms agreed in the Uruguay Round. European countries, Japan, Rep of Korea, and someothers said they believe agreement in the agriculture talks will need a comprehensive round that
covers a wide range of topics. East and Central European countries said the talks should also look at
the special problems of countries in transition, and how to deal with domestic subsidy commitments
(which are made in current prices) when countries experience high rates of inflation. Many
developing countries (including some Cairns Group members) said their priority is dealing with the
special problems of developing countries and net food importers.
The next meeting will be on June 29 and 30.
For more information, see the WTO website www.wto.org
and in particular background briefing no tes for the 1999 Seattle Ministerial Conference
http://www.wto.org/wto/seattle/english/about_e/07ag_e.htm
——————————————PRESS/172
Page 4
ENDTHE DECISION
24 March 2000
1. The following programme and arrangements for the first phase of the negotiations under Article 20 of
the Agreement on Agriculture was agreed:
(a) that work within the framework of paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d) of Article 20 would be based on
technical papers and submissions to be contributed by interested participants, as well as on the basis ofinformation and data to be prepared by th e Secretariat at the request of the Committee;
(b) that negotiating proposals would be submitted by participants by the end of December 2000, on the
understanding that there would be flexibility for the submission of further or more detailed proposals thereafter,provided that such submissions are tabled sufficiently  in advance of a stock-taking exercise, covering all
proposals submitted, to be undertaken at a March 2001 meeting of the Special Session;
(c) that appropriate provision would be made in the agendas of each of the Special Session meetings for
the discussion of technical pa pers submitted and proposals made;
(d) that the Special Session meetings would be held  back-to-back with the regular meetings of the
Committee on Agriculture in June, September and Novemb er 2000, with the possibility of an additional Special
Session meeting being held in the interval prior to the March 2001 stock-taking meeting on the first phase of the
negotiations. The timing of such a meeting, provisionally in the last week of January 2001, would be decided by
the Chairperson in the light of consultations as appropriate.
 2. Various suggestions were made by participants for background technical papers by the Secretariat.
Taking account of these suggestions as appropriate, including experience to date in implementing commitments,
the following background papers would be made availabl e in advance of the next meeting of the Special Session
in June:
(a) revised and updated background papers based on  notifications on tariff quotas, domestic support,
and export subsidies, as well as a table showing Members’ usage of domestic support categories, exportsubsidies and export credits in a common currency;
(b) an updated background paper on the agricultural trade performance of developing countries;
(c) a background paper in the context of Article 20(b);(d) a background paper on implementation of the least developed and net food-importing developing
countries’ Decision.
——————————————
THE MANDATEArticle 20 of the Agriculture Agreement
Continuation of the Reform Process
Recognizing that the long-term objective of substantial progressive reductions in support and protection
resulting in fundamental reform is an ongoing process, Members agree that negotiations for continuing the
process will be initiated one year before the end of the implementation period, taking into account:
(a) the experience to that date from implementing the reduction commitments;
(b) the effects of the reduction commitments on world trade in agriculture;
(c) non-trade concerns, special and differential treatment to developing-country Members, and the
objective to establish a fair and market-oriented agricultural trading system, and the other objectives
and concerns mentioned in the preamble to this Agreement;  and
(d) what further commitments are necessary to achieve the above mentioned long-term objectives.