WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/AG/N/CHE/23
28 June 1999
(99-2676)
Committee on Agriculture Original:  French
NOTIFICATION
The attached notification in the context of actions taken within the framework of the Decision
on Measures Concerning the Possible Negative Effects of the Reform Programme on Least-Developed and Net-Food-Importing Developi ng Countries for the calendar years 1995 to 1998
(Table NF:1 ) was received from the delegation of Switzerland  on 4 June 1999.
_______________
In accordance with notification requirements within the framework of the Decision on
Measures Concerning the Possible Negative Effects of the Reform Programme on the Least-
Developed and Net-Food-Importing Countries ( Table NF:1 ), the following provides details of
Switzerland's programmes in respect of the Decision.G/AG/N/CHE/23
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Table NF: 1
Notification under Article 16:2 of the Agreement:  Monitoring of the Follow-Up to the Decision
on Measures Concerning the Possible Negat ive Effects of the Reform Programme on
Least-developed and Net-Food-Importing Developing Countries:  Switzerland
REPORTING PERIOD:  Calendar years 1995 to 1998
1. Quantity of food aid provided to least-developed and net-food-importing developing
countries.
Switzerland's contributions to cereal aid ar e made within framework of the Food Aid
Convention, which was renegotiated in 1995.  As a co-signatory of that agreement Switzerland hasundertaken to make an annual contribution of 40,000 tonnes of wheat equivalent.
Such aid is generally provided in cash and not in kind and is mainly made available through
the World Food Programme (WFP; development programme) for the purchase of cereals in the
developing countries.  The cereals purchased come mainly from the Southern countries or from thosecountries neighbouring the region benefiting so as to stimulate production in those countries and at the
same time raise the level of tolerance, among the recipients, of the goods delivered ("triangular
purchases").  Such aid also has the advantage of combining the distribution of foodstuffs with that of
seed, thereby preventing the formation of food dependency.
In addition to the aid to the WFP, Switzerland regularly provides deliveries of Swiss dairy
products.  Such aid meets the "criteria for the use of dairy products as part of food aid", which lay
down the rules to be followed in evaluating the distribution of dairy products and in carrying out such
distribution.
Tables 1 and 2 provide information on the distribution of the food aid provided by
Switzerland. This aid forms part of Switzerland's hum anitarian aid. The aid provided is not allocated
on the basis of the criteria of "least-developed countries" (LDCs) or "net-food-importing developing
countries" (NFIDCs), but solely in response to the need for humanitarian aid of the regions affected
by natural or other such disasters. In actual fact, however, the countries benefiting from Swiss
programmes largely overlap with those two groups (cf. Table 2: Food aid in form of grain, flour or
seed in wheat equivalent).
In addition to direct aid in the form of food products, Swiss humanitarian aid is provided in
the form of financial contributions. The funds assigned to that end have served three main purposes:
to provide logistical support and staff for organizations responsible for distributing foodstuffs on the
ground;  to establish and maintain the transport infrastructure;  to ensure the maintenance of
distribution systems in the beneficiary countries. The assistance provided also includes long-term
development programmes and also emergency relief.  See section 3 below.G/AG/N/CHE/23
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Table 1: Quantity of food aid provided by Switzerland
Product Quantity of food aid provided and/or financed (tonnes)
1995 1996 1997 1998
Cereals (1) 73,065 51,970 55,897 31,498
Bilateral aid 24,650 7,790 11,301 2,691
Wheat 24,450 0 3,016 (3) 0
Maize 0 230 5,000 0
Millet / sorghum 200 0 585 991
Barley 0 0 900 0
Rice 0 7,560 1,800 1,700
Various 0 0 0 0
Aid financed through
international organizations 48,415 44,180 44,596 28,807
Wheat 8,221 21,328 (2) 17,136 (4) 12,051 (5)
Maize 12,480 6,199 12,700 4,680
Millet / sorghum 7,500 1,000 2,053 2,693
Barley 0 380 1,200 0
Rice 14,797 15,273 9,685 9,383
Various 5,417 0 1,822 0
Dairy products (6) 3,680 2,493 2,177 2,398
Whole milk powder 836 818 704 815
Skimmed milk powder 1,137 913 1,246 1,340
Milk for children 810 356 60 26
Processed cheese
(and hard) 897 406 167 217
Others (6) (7) 0 100 0 0
(1) Grain, flour or seed in wheat equivalent
(2) Including 10,998 tonnes from Switzerland
(3) Including 3,016 tonnes from Switzerland(4) Including 5,011 tonnes from Switzerland(5) Including 2,000 tonnes from Switzerland
(6) Swiss products
(7) e.g. dried fruit
Source:  Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.G/AG/N/CHE/23
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Table 2: Food aid in the form of grain, flour or seed in wheat equivalent;  distribution by country
Country Quantity of food aid provided and/or financed (tonnes)
1995 1996 1997 1998
LDCs (1) 42,847 26,029 17,971 14,451
Africa : 35,647 20,989 14,038 10,881
Angola 4,700 0 0 0
Benin 0 0 0 0
Burkina Faso 0 0 0 171
Burundi 0 0 0 1,093
Cape Verde 7,650 5,760 5,000 0
Central African Republic 0 0 0 0
Chad 0 0 0 0
Comores 0 0 0 0
Dem. Rep. of the Congo 0 0 0 0
Djibouti 0 0 0 1,370
Equatorial Guinea 0 0 0 0
Eritrea 4,500 0 0 0
Ethiopia 1,450 2,500 4,600 2,000
Gambia 0 0 0 0
Guinea 0 0 0 0
Guinea-Bissau 0 0 0 906
Lesotho 0 0 0 0
Liberia 4,900 2,370 0 0
Madagascar 2,400 2,030 1,800 1,700
Malawi 0 0 0 0
Mali 0 0 2,053 793
Mauritania 3,000 1,000 0 0
Mozambique 1,940 0 0 0
Niger 0 0 585 820
Rwanda 200 2,675 0 0
Sao Tome and Principe 0 0 0 0
Sierra Leone 0 0 0 0
Somalia 0 0 0 128
Sudan 272 3,500 0 1,900
Togo 0 0 0 0
Uganda 3,695 0 0 0
United Rep. of Tanzania 940 0 0 0
Zambia 0 1,154 0 0
America : 0 0 0 0
Haiti 0 0 0 0
Asia and the Pacific : 7,200 5,040 3,933 1,700
Afghanistan 0 0 0 0
Bangladesh 0 0 454 0
Bhutan 0 0 0 0
Cambodia 7,200 0 0 1,700
Kiribatu  0 0 0 0
Lao People's Dem. Rep. 0 0 3,479 0
Maldives 0 0 0 0
Myanmar 0 0 0 0
Nepal 0 5,040 0 1,870
Samoa 0 0 0 0G/AG/N/CHE/23
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Country Quantity of food aid provided and/or financed (tonnes)
1995 1996 1997 1998
Solomon Islands 0 0 0 0
Tuvalu 0 0 0 0
Yemen 0 0 0 0
NFIDCs  (1) 0 0 0 4,191
Barbados 0 0 0 0
Botswana 0 0 0 0
Côte d'Ivoire 0 0 0 0
Dominican Republic 0 0 0 0
Egypt 0 0 0 0
Honduras 0 0 0 0
Jamaica 0 0 0 0
Kenya 0 0 0 4,191
Mauritius 0 0 0 0
Morocco 0 0 0 0
Pakistan 0 0 0 0
Peru 0 0 0 0
Saint Lucia 0 0 0 0
Senegal 0 0 0 0
Sri Lanka 0 0 0 0
Trinidad and Tobago 0 0 0 0
Tunisia 0 0 0 0
Venezuela 0  0 0 0
Others 30,218 25,941 37,926 12,856
Albania 0 0 411 0
Algeria 0 380 0 0
Bulgaria 0 0 3,016 0
Cuba 0 0 4,761 0
Georgia 0 0 0 1,431
Iraq 0 5,020 3,256 0
Iran 3,672 4,095 8,668 0
Israel (2) 4,315 3,479 0 0
Jordan (2) 2,055 1,178 0 0
Caucasia 0 0 1,818 0
Kosovo 0 0 0 96
Lebanon (2) 1,370 1,479 0 0
Namibia 0 0 0 849
North Korea 18,325 8,788 14,900 5,669
Syria (2) 481 712 0 0
Tajikistan 0 810 1,096 0
Thailand 0 0 0 4,811
Total 73,065 51,970 55,897 31,498
(1)  Countries according to G/AG/GEN/31, Table 3, pages 16-17
(2)  UNWRAG/AG/N/CHE/23
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2. Indication of the proportion in fully gr ant form or appropriate concessional terms
All Swiss food aid is provided on fully grant terms.
3. Technical and financial assistance under paragraph 3(iii) of the Decision
As Switzerland's technical and financial assistance is not directed solely to the two categories
of countries, i.e. the LDCs and NFIDCs, there foll ows a brief description of its official development
assistance (see tables below). However, this shows that Swiss aid in this field mainly responds – both
by its nature and its objectives – to the needs of the LDCs and the NFIDCs.
Swiss official development assistance amounts to about 1.3 billion francs per year, i.e. some
0.32 per cent of the gross national product or, to put it another way, 50 cents per inhabitant per year.
The total amount includes all the financial flows provided on concessional terms to the developing
countries, international institutions and non-governmental organizations from the Swiss
Confederation, the cantons and communes.
The objectives of Swiss international cooperation are as follows:
- International cooperation supports the efforts of the developing countries to improve
the standard of living of their people;
- international cooperation should help to put these countries in a position to ensure
their development by their own means.
Guidelines of the development policy reflec t four main themes: the preservation and
maintenance of peace and security and the promotion of human rights, democracy and the rule of law;the promotion of prosperity and the strengthening of the basic conditions for sustainable development,
the promotion of social justice - in particular, the situation of women - and, finally, the protection of
the natural environment.
Two federal offices are responsible for the planning and practical implementation of the
development aid: the Division for Development and Cooperation (DDC) within the Federal
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAE), and the Se cretariat of State for the Economy (SECO) within
the Federal Department for the Public Economy (DFEP). Their main instruments are technical
cooperation, financial aid, economic and trade measures and humanitarian aid. Action is coordinated
by the DDC.
The Division of Development and Cooperation has three main components. Development
cooperation involves long-term activities and, on this basis, concentrates its bilateral activities in
17 countries of the South, in particular LDCs a nd NFIDCs, although it also provides support for
programmes in other regions through international organizations.
Humanitarian aid is provided without geographical restrictions or distinctions of nationality,
race, religion, sex or membership of any political or social group. It intervenes directly for shorter
periods so as to provide relief for the victims of conf licts, of crises resulting from them or of natural
disasters. It also supports the activities of humanitarian organizations. Its action takes the form of the
provision of staff through the Swiss Disaster Relief  Unit (ASC), financial contributions and deliveries
of foodstuffs.G/AG/N/CHE/23
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For its part, the Secretariat of State for the Economy devises the economic and trade measures
for development cooperation: joint financing – in volving both the Confederation and Swiss banks –
balance-of-payments aid, trade promotion activit ies and, in conjunction with the international
community, action on behalf of basic products. SECO is also the main body involved in the strategy
of providing debt relief for the most indebted countries.
Table 3: International cooperation by Switzerland 1997-1998  (millions of Swiss francs)
1998 (b) 1997 1996 1995
Including
ODA
flows (a)including
ODA
flows (a)
Confederation 1,380.3 1,266.4 1,308.8 1,206.7 1,350.5 1,333.4
Development cooperation including
economic and trade policy measures1,019.5 1,017.0 955.6 954.1 976.8 972.9
Humanitarian aid 224.1 221.4 222.1 217.1 230.4 244.8
Resources contributed to the
countries of Eastern Europe and the
CIS136.7 28.0 131.1 35.5 143.3 115.7
Cantons and communes 23.3 20.6 26.1 23.2 22.8 23.5
Development cooperation 20.3 18.5 22.8 20.8 19.5 19.8
Humanitarian aid 3.0 2.1 3.3 2.4 3.3 3.7
Total international cooperation 1,403.6 1,334.9 1,373.3 1,356.9
Total Official Development Assistance
(ODA)1,287.0 1,229.9
ODA as % of GNP 0.32 0.32
(a) The OECD defines official development assistance  (O DA) as the totality of financial flows to the developing
countries and multilateral funding agencies from public funds
(b) Provisional dataG/AG/N/CHE/23
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Table 4: Bilateral official development assistance (ODA) 1996-1998
Breakdown by continent and by country (Sw F millions)
1996 1997 1998 (a) 1996 1997 1998 (a)
Africa 280.9 269.6 253.9 Asia 249.6 216.5 236.1
1 Mozambique 33.3 26.3 30.0 30 India 26.3 36.6 45.2
2 Untd. Rep. of Tanzania 19.2 35.3 19.9 31 Bangladesh 15.1 12.1 33.9
3 South Africa 15.2 13.9 13.0 32 Nepal 18.2 16.6 18.0
4 Burkina Faso 18.4 18.1 11.0 33 China 10.9 6.0 16.9
5 Mauritius 0.0 0.0 10.5 34 Vietnam 12.5 15.2 16.8
6 Cape Verde 5.3 5.0 10.3 35 Pakistan 16.9 14.7 14.5
7 Rwanda 21.6 17.6 10.1 36 Indonesia 12.1 11.7 7.8
8 Egypt 14.5 11.1 10.0 37 Palestine 11.7 8.8 7.7
9 Benin 12.7 9.9 10.0 38 Kyrgyzstan 3.6 12.3 7.4
10 Chad 8.6 14.3 9.3 39 Bhutan 5.8 6.8 6.9
11 Madagascar 15.9 13.9 9.1 40 North Korea 2.9 6.4 6.7
12 Niger 8.7 8.1 8.5 41 Jordan 0.3 0.4 5.8
13 Mali 6.9 10.9 8.5 42 Tajikistan 1.8 7.5 5.3
14 Angola 9.4 8.3 7.4 43 Afghanistan 1.8 3.2 4.7
15 Guinea-Bissau 1.8 1.4 7.3 44 Georgia 1.9 5.1 4.1
16 Sudan 3.3 3.1 4.0 45 Sri Lanka 2.6 3.3 3.5
17 Tunisia 0.1 1.6 4.0 46 Cambodia 2.4 2.1 2.9
18 Ethiopia 7.1 3.5 3.5 47 Philippines 2.4 2.8 2.8
19 Dem. Rep. of the Congo 5.1 2.7 3.1 48 Iraq 2.8 2.5 2.1
20 Cameroon 3.3 4.1 3.0 49 Armenia 1.0 1.2 1.9
21 Kenya 4.8 3.3 3.0 50 Lebanon 1.5 1.0 1.5
22 Liberia 2.4 1.6 2.9 Other countries and
regional projects95.1 40.2 19.7
23 Sierra Leone 0.7 1.2 2.7
24 Senegal 3.0 14.4 2.6 Latin America 118.4 100.4 100.8
25 Burundi 2.5 1.3 2.0 51 Bolivia 27.3 29.4 19.8
26 Eritrea 10.7 1.6 1.9 52 Peru 15.1 15.1 12.3
27 Lesotho 2.4 2.5 1.5 53 Nicaragua 13.3 8.3 12.0
28 Uganda 0.9 10.5 1.2 54 Ecuador 9.1 10.6 8.4
29 Algeria 0.7 0.6 1.0 55 Colombia 6.1 3.0 4.5
Other countries and
regional projects42.4 23.7 42.5 56 Haiti 7.8 4.4 4.3
Including the Sahel 3.2 3.6 2.8 57 Guatemala 2.5 2.7 3.6
58 Honduras 8.6 3.2 3.0
Europe 62.7 42.4 39.4 59 Chile 3.0 0.8 2.9
63 Former Yugoslavia (b) 39.8 24.1 28.2 60 Brazil 2.3 2.2 2.7
64 Albania (b) 15.4 6.2 4.6 61 El Salvador 1.3 2.0 2.5
65 Turkey 4.2 3.4 3.5 62 Dominican Republic 3.7 2.4 1.6
66 Moldova 2.5 0.1 1.4 Other countries and
regional projects18.3 16.3 23.1
Other countries 0.8 8.7 1.8
. Not broken down 253.4 212.1 268.6
Total Bilateral ODA 965.0 841.0 898.9
(a) Provisional data
(b) According to OECD guidelines Albania and the Former Yugoslavia are developing countriesG/AG/N/CHE/23
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Table 5 : Bilateral official development assistance;  distribution by country and by category of aid (millions of
Swiss francs)
1998 (provisional data)
DDC
Development
cooperationDDC
Humanitarian aidSECO
Economic
measuresOther Total
Africa 158.7 48.2 47.1 0.0 253.9
Mozambique 21.2 0.5 8.3 0.0 30.0
United Rep. of Tanzania 18.0 1.8 0.0 0.0 19.9
South Africa 11.8 0.6 0.6 0.0 13.0
Burkina Faso 9.6 0.8 0.6 0.0 11.0
Mauritius 0.0 0.0 10.5 0.0 10.5
Cape Verde 10.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 10.3
Rwanda 5.4 4.7 0.0 0.0 10.1
Egypt 0.6 0.0 9.4 0.0 10.0
Benin 9.6 0.4 0.0 0.0 10.0
Chad 9.1 0.2 0.0 0.0 9.3
Madagascar 7.3 1.5 0.3 0.0 9.1
Niger 7.9 0.7 0.0 0.0 8.5
Mali 7.0 1.5 0.0 0.0 8.5
Angola 0.0 7.4 0.0 0.0 7.4
Guinea-Bissau 1.0 1.2 5.0 0.0 7.3
Sudan 0.1 3.9 0.0 0.0 4.0
Tunisia 1.5 0.0 2.5 0.0 4.0
Ethiopia 0.6 2.9 0.0 0.0 3.5
Other countries 10.7 18.8 1.0 0.0 30.4
Regional projects 26.8 1.3 9.0 0.0 37.1
Asia 162.5 28.2 44.9 0.0 236.1
India 27.5 0.5 17.1 0.0 45.2
Bangladesh 33.1 0.8 0.0 0.0 33.9
Nepal 17.9 0.1 0.0 0.0 18.0
China 1.9 0.5 14.4 0.0 16.9
Viet-Nam 14.6 0.1 2.1 0.0 16.8
Pakistan 13.8 0.0 0.8 0.0 14.5
Indonesia 7.3 0.3 0.2 0.0 7.8
Palestine 7.6 0.1 0.0 0.0 7.7
Kyrgyzstan 5.2 0.0 2.2 0.0 7.4
Bhutan 6.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.9
North Korea 1.1 5.6 0.0 0.0 6.7
Jordan 1.4 0.0 4.4 0.0 5.8
Tajikistan 2.6 2.8 0.0 0.0 5.3
Other countries 10.0 17.3 0.3 0.0 28.1
Regional projects 11.7 0.0 3.4 0.0 15.1G/AG/N/CHE/23
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1998 (provisional data)
DDC
Development
cooperationDDC
Humanitarian aidSECO
Economic
measuresOther Total
Latin America 77.0 12.4 11.4 0.0 100.8
Bolivia 18.5 0.6 0.7 0.0 19.8
Peru 10.3 2.0 0.0 0.0 12.3
Nicaragua 4.6 0.0 7.4 0.0 12.0
Ecuador 8.2 0.3 0.0 0.0 8.4
Colombia 2.6 1.0 1.0 0.0 4.5
Haiti 2.0 2.3 0.0 0.0 4.3
Other countries 14.4 3.8 2.4 0.0 20.6
Regional projects 16.5 2.4 0.0 0.0 18.9
Europe 13.4 15.3 10.7 0.0 39.4
Former Yugoslavia 6.9 13.8 7.4 0.0 28.2
Albania 2.3 1.5 0.8 0.0 4.6
Other countries 4.2 0.0 2.6 0.0 6.7
Not  broken down
geographically92.6 74.3 45.0 58.6 268.6
Total Bilateral OPA 504.1 178.4 159.1 58.6 898.9
Table 6: OPA provided by Switzerland:  bilateral and multilateral distribution
1998 (provisional data) 1997
Bilateral Multilateral Total Total
Sw F
millionsSw F
millionsSw F
millions%S w  F
millions%
Technical cooperation 493 105 597 46 604 49
Financial aid 52 201 253 20 237 19
Humanitarian aid 162 30 191 15 188 15
Food aid 19 14 32 3 31 3
Economic and trade measures 147 5 152 12 103 8
Not classified 28 35 63 5 65 5
Loan repayments -1 - -1 -1
Total OPA 899 388 1,287 100 1,227 100
As percentage of GNP 0.32 0.32G/AG/N/CHE/23
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Table 7: Bilateral cooperation by the DDC;  breakdown by sector
1998 (a)
Agriculture. livestock farming 15%
Forests. environment 12%
Infrastructure. water. energy 20%
Craft work. industry. trade 6%
Global economy. finance. services 6%
Social policy. administration. justice 5%
Education. information. culture 13%
Health. nutrition. population 11%
Not broken down 11%
(a) Not including staff costs. administrative coordinating costs of the DDC. programme funds granted to NGOs and
the volunteers' programme
Table 8: SECO's economic and trade policy measures; distribution by income level of beneficiary
countries
1998
Sw F millions %
Low income countries 67.4 44.4
Middle income countries 19.7 13.0
Not broken down 64.6 42.6
Total for economic measures 151.7 100.0G/AG/N/CHE/23
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Table 9 : Multilateral development cooperation by the DDC; annual contributions to international
organizations
1998 1997
Sw F
millionsSw F
millions
United Nations 95.3 96.8
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 56.0 57.4
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) 17.0 17.2
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) 10.0 10.0
Special programmes of the World Health Organization (WHO) 4.8 4.8
United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) 2.5 2.5
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) 2.2 2.2
United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) 0.7 0.7
United Nations Educational. Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) 0.4 0.4
United Nations Volunteers (UNV) 0.5 0.5
Other United Nations organizations 1.3 1.1
Develo pment banks and their s pecial funds (a) 191.5 174.7
African Development Fund (AfDF) 61.6 28.6
Asian Development Bank (AsDB) 3.1 2.6
Asian Development Fund (AsDF) 12.8 23.0
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) 1.5 3.4
Fund for Special Operations (FSO – IDB) 0.6 11.3
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) 5.4 5.9
International Development Association (IDA) 106.6 94.9
International Finance Corporation (IFC) - 5.1
Other multilateral institutions 19.1 17.0
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) 10.4 11.0
International Fund for Agricultura l Development  (IFAD) (a) 5.0 5.0
World Conservation Union (IUCN) 0.8 0.8
Other multilateral institutions 2.9 0.2
Total multilateral cooperation 305.9 288.4
(a) Contributions made in the form of notes payable on sight are recorded as they are drawn
__________