JOB/AG/174  
 
10 December 2019  
(19-8519) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Agriculture  
Special Session    
 
REPORT BY AMB. J. R. D . (DEEP) FORD, CHAIR  OF THE COA SPECIAL SESSION,  
TO THE INFORMAL TNC AND HODS MEETING  
6 December  2019 
1.   The key message of my report today is that we have reached the turning point towards an 
increased pace and intensification of the discussions towards negotiations  on the 
agriculture file . 
 
2.   Since the last TNC meeting on 14 October 2019, the CoA Special Session  has witnessed a 
significant increase in  the level of engagement. In the two CoA Special Session  meetings and the 
Dedicated Sessions on Public Stockholding for Food Security Purposes  (PSH) and the Special 
Safeguard Mechanism  (SSM) held since then on 28 October and on 25 -26 November , numerous new  
submissions have been tabled, and several imminent submissions were announced.   
 
3.   In October , two submissions  were introduced: one on the pillar of Market Access by the 
United  States on "Tariff peaks ", and one on Cotton by the C4.  
 
4.   It is the November meetings , however, that saw a real increase in engagement.  Eight additional 
submission s were made:  
 
• two in the Market Access pillar - one by the United States on Tariff Rate Quotas and the other 
one by Australia and Canada on the treatment of shi pments en route ;  
• one in the Export Competition  pillar focusing on transparency by Canada co -sponsored by 
Norway and Switzerland and ; 
• four in the Domestic Support pillar: one from Australia and New Zealand and one by Canada 
on the evolution of the future d omestic support entitlements; one by the Russia n Federation  
introducing a new formula for the reduction of trade-distorting support; and one by Costa Rica 
suggesting an approach that calls for the contributions to be proportional to the trade 
distorting po tential.  
• The eighth  submission, made by the African Group , was cross -cutting and covered Domestic 
Support including for Cotton and transparency related issues, PSH and SSM.  
 
5.   In short , some Members have pursued their analytical work and new creative ideas a nd 
approaches, related to both transparency and substantive disciplines, and added them to the list of 
ideas already on the table. The discussions and submissions also confirmed the priority of Domestic 
Support for the majority of Members, and the growing interest by several Members in various Market 
Access issues. The exchanges on PSH, SSM, Export Restrictions and Export Competition confirmed 
the interest of the proponents. However, a continuing low -level engagement on PSH and SSM 
reinforces the difficulty  in these two areas. I also held a Cotton Quad Plus meeting on 26 November 
to address Cotton which also is a priority for many Members.  
 
6.   In light of the flurry of submissions, some Members stressed the need to pursue work towards 
building consensus and ope rationalizing our collective commitment for agricultural reform.  
 
7.   I see this increased level of engagement as a turning point towards a higher gear in the pace 
and intensity of the discussions. I see it also as a strong signal about Members' willingness to  start 
debating on what may be feasible at or for MC12. My intention is to make every effort to build on 
this momentum.  JOB/AG/174  
 
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  8.   I have therefore called upon Members, especially those who informed me that are still working 
on their submissions, to put them forward as soon as possible, preferably before the Christmas 
break. I have also urged Members who have submitted papers to share  more information, especially 
the numbers reflecting the implications and the insights, with the rest of the Membership and 
encouraged all Members to engage with each other and take full advantage of the coming weeks to 
transform the various ideas on the t able into concrete potential doable, negotiable elements. I expect 
the additional inputs signalled to be delivered soon, and I expect them to help in framing the way 
to a meaningful outcome.  
 
9.   Therefore, I expect that before the end of the year, early in Ja nuary, we would hopefully be 
working around a platform that leads us to texts around which we hold our negotiations. It remains 
to be seen what it would look like and what it would apply to, but it must be framed in such a way 
that negotiated outcomes migh t be possible.  
 
10.   As from January, we will have only five months till MC12. The next meeting of the CoA S pecial 
Session  is scheduled to take place on 27 and 28 January. In the intervening period, I will have 
intensive consultations in various configurations and in particular with groups representatives and 
Members of those groups as well as bilaterals.  
 
11.   I renew my call to all Members to work together to see how we can achieve our goals and move 
towards increased prosperity resulting from a stable predictable fair agricultural trading environment  
with greatly reduced trade -distorting capacity and practices . 
 
12.   I remain committ ed to finding a path that takes us to a meaningful outcome by MC12.  
 
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