G/AG/GEN/15 8 
19 March  2020 
(20-2192) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Agriculture  Original:  Spanish  
 
  
THE IICA IN THE WTO COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE  
WORK  PLAN X:  
JANUARY TO DECEMBER 20 20 
SUBMISSION BY THE IICA  
The following submission, dated  17 March 2020, is being circulated at the request of the 
Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture  (IICA).  
 
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1  BACKGROUND  
1.1.  In March  2010, the Committee on Agriculture of the World Trade Organization (WTO) granted 
the IICA ad hoc observer status in its regular meetings . Since June 2012, the IICA has been 
operating a WTO Reference Centre, which provides technical advisory services in connection with 
various areas of agricultural trade to individuals from government, business and academic circles 
that are interested in improving their technical capacity in t hese areas . 
1.2.  A number of joint technical cooperation activities have been conducted within the framework 
of the existing alliance between the IICA and the WTO on agricultural subjects of  particular interest 
to the two  institutions and their member countries . It should also be noted that t he IICA has had 
ad hoc observer status in  the WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures since 2001.  
1.3.  In this context, the IICA submitted nine annual  joint work plans between 2010 and 201 9 
(documents G/AG/GEN/92, G/ AG/GEN/95, G/AG/GEN/105, G/AG/GEN/115, G/AG/GEN/125, 
G/AG/GEN/132, G/AG/GEN/139 , G/AG/GEN/145  and G/AG/GEN/150 ). 
1.4.  In order to ensure the continuity of the IICA's commitment, a tenth joint work plan has been 
drafted and will be presented to WTO Members at th e next regular meeting of the Committee on 
Agriculture . 
2  ACTIVITIES TO BE DEVELOPED IN RELATION TO THE WORK OF THE COMMITTEE ON 
AGRICULTURE  
2.1.  The following activities are under consideration : 
a. Participation in and attendance at meetings of the Committee on Agr iculture : The IICA, as 
an observer organization , undertakes to participate in the regular meetings of this 
Committee held at the WTO and in those involving matters within the competence of the 
Institute 's member  State s. Following these meetings, the IICA will  systematize key 
information , both  for national and regional bodies involved in  agricultural trade  and for the 
business and academic sectors of IICA member States . 
b. Preparation of a paper on the IICA's contribution to the Marrakesh Decision and 
Food Security : The IICA undertakes to inform WTO Members about the contributions made 
by the Institute during the year in the area of food security . It published submissions on  
this subject in 2010 (G/AG/GEN/93) , 2011 (G/AG/GEN/97) , 2012 (G/AG/GEN/104), 2013 
(G/AG/GEN/111), 2014 (G/AG/GEN/125), 2015 (G/AG/GEN/128), 2016 (G/AG/GEN/136), 
2017 (G/AG/GEN/142) , 2018 (G/AG/GEN/148 ) and 2019 (G/AG/GEN/154) . G/AG/GEN/15 8 
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  c. Support for technical cooperation activities related to agricultural trade : The IICA  will 
support  technical cooperation activities  at the hemispheric , regional and national levels 
geared to wards ministries of agriculture , competent entities  involved in agricultural trade 
and ministerial bodies . Some  of this  support is designed to enhance the impact of the IICA 
and its partnership with the WTO in the development of such activities . 
In 2019 , the IICA carried out joint training activities  that provided technical input in the 
area of  agricultural policy.  The Institute  supported  the regional workshop on the Agreement 
on Agriculture for Latin American countries (Lima, November 2019) , and took part in the 
agriculture session of the XIX Short Trade Policy Course for Member Countries of the  
Latin American Integration Association  (LAIA ) (Montevideo , November 2019 ). 
In addition, the IICA participated for the first time in the WTO Public Forum  on the panel  
"Agriculture and trade - Adapting to a changi ng world: Exploring synergies between Africa, 
Latin America and the Caribbean", with the support of the International Food Policy Research 
Institute (IFPRI), the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the Ministry of Agriculture, 
Livestock and Food Supply (MA PA). 
d. Monitoring areas of common interest: The IICA will monitor the progress of the agricultural 
trade negotiations at the WTO and will prepare technically to respond to the requests of its 
member States in the area of agricultural trade policy and to d evelop possible training 
programmes in areas of common interest with other technical partners. The I ICA will, in 
turn, make its technical staff available to the WTO should it require support in respect of  
requests for technical advice and training (in part icular in Latin America and the  Caribbean) 
related to https://www.iica.int/en , such  as bioeconomy and productivity ; climate change 
and agricultural resilience ; regional integration ; food safety and quality ; territorial 
development and family  farming ; and  trade promotion and the internationalization of 
agribusiness es. 
e. Compliance by countries with agricultural notification requirements : In document  
G/AG/GEN/86/Rev.3 6 of October 2019, the Committee identified  countries that have fallen 
behind in submitting agricultural notifications1. In this light, the IICA will continue to support 
the WTO's initiatives to conduct activities including regional workshops and other training 
events that are geared towards Latin American and Caribbean countries to help them 
improve, and ensure they are up to date with, their transparency commitments. Similarly, 
it will support and channel national and regional initiatives that require WTO  technical 
cooperation.  
The Institute has been commi tted to provid ing follow -up on the outcome s of the  technical 
forum  "Challenges and opportunities for Caribbean and Central American countries in the 
WTO Committee on Agriculture", which was held in 2018 with  approximately 30 participants  
(Geneva -based delegates of Central American and Caribbean countries and IICA official s). 
In 2019, based on the outcomes of this IICA-led forum, the Institute conducted a study on 
the technical cooperation needs of the countries of the Caribbean2, the Central Region3 and 
the Andean Region4 with a view to increas ing and enhanc ing their parti cipation in the work 
of the Committee on Agriculture  and their transparency vis -à-vis the Committee.  The 
outcome documents will be issued in the course of 2020 and will be shared in information 
sessions on the margins of the formal meetings of the Committe e on Agriculture.  
The actions taken to identify these technical cooperation needs are based on  the trends that 
the IICA has observed in the participation of delegations of the countries of the Americas, 
as well as on the concerns of Members and the reports of the Secretariat regarding 
 
1 Notifications are submitted in accordance with the requirements and  formats adopted in 1995 by 
WTO Members (G/AG/2).  
2 The Caribbean Region comprises  Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas (in the process of WTO 
accession), Dominica, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Saint Lucia, 
Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.  
3  The Central Region comprises  Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras , Nicaragua and Panama.  
4 The Andean Region comprises  the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and the 
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.  G/AG/GEN/15 8 
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  agricultural notifications. Therefore, the  IICA will continue the study in the South5 and 
North6 Regions in an effort to promote triangular and horizontal technical cooperation and 
to further assist  member countries with their participation in the Committee.  
f. Preparation of technical documents : Given the IICA's extensive and proven experience in 
this area, it will assist the WTO Secretariat with such activities at the Committee's request . 
3  THE AGRICULTURAL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITHIN THE INSTITUTE  
3.1.  The IICA's activities in the WTO will be conducted within the framework of the IICA's Technical 
Cooperation Directorate, which will be responsible for implementing this work plan . The 
implementatio n of the plan will promote knowledge management and support the processes of trade 
promotion and internationalization of firms, regional integration, and  trade policy coordination 
through technical cooperation services and  the mobilization of relevant reso urces for inter -American 
agriculture, in accordance with the IICA's 2018 -2022 Medium -term Plan. 
3.2.  The IICA has an experienced network of experts in agricultur e and international trade  based  at 
its central headquarters , its offices located in 34 member countries on the American continent  and 
its https://www.iica.int/en/oficina -europa  in Spain . 
3.3.  For further information, please contact : 
Adriana Campos Azofeifa  
 Nadia Mo nge Hernández  
Technical Specialist, International Trade and 
Regional Integration Programme (IICA)  
 
Email: adriana.campos@iica.int  
Tel: ( +506) 2216 0170  
 Technical Specialist, International Trade and 
Regional Integration Programme (IICA)  
 
Email: nadia.monge @iica.int  
Tel: ( +506) 2216 0358  
 
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5 The South Region comprises  Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.  
6 The North Region comprises  Canada, the United States and Mexico.