G/AG/GEN/220  
24 April 2023 
(23-2912)  Page: 1/3 
Committee on Agriculture  Original:  Spanish  
 
  
THE IICA IN THE WTO COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE  
WORK PLAN XII I: 
APRIL TO DECEMBER  2023 
SUBMISSION BY THE IICA 
The following submission, dated 11 April 2 023, 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 
operatin g 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 these are as. 
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 the IICA has had ad 
hoc observer status in the WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures since 1999.  
1.3.  In this context, the IICA submitted 12 annual joint work plans between 2010 and 2022 
(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, G/AG/GEN/150, G/AG/GEN/158 , G/AG/GEN/185  
and G/AG/GEN/ 200). 
1.4.  In order to ensure the continuity of the IICA's commitment, a 13th joint work plan has been 
drafted and will be presented to WTO  Members at the regular meeting of the Committee on 
Agriculture to be held on 27 and 28  June 2023. 
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 Agriculture : 
The IICA, as an observer organization, undertakes to participate in-person or virtually 
in the regular meetings of this Committee held at the WTO and in those involving 
matters within the competence of the Institute's member States . Following these 
meetings, the IICA will systematize key information, both for national and regiona l 
bodies involved in agricultural trade and for the business and academic sectors of IICA 
member States.  
b. Support for technical cooperation activities related to agricultural trade : The 
IICA will support technical cooperation activities at the hemispheric, regional and 
national levels geared towards 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 deve lopment of such 
activities . One such example has been the trade policy courses for Latin American 
countries to be held with other organizations such as El Colegio de México, the Food 
and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Central Ame rican 
Economic Integration Secretariat (SIECA) and the Secretariat of the Central American 
Agricultural Council (SECAC).  
c. Monitoring areas of common interest : The IICA will monitor the progress of the 
agricultural trade negotiations at the WTO and will prep are technically to respond to the 
requests of its member States in the area of agricultural trade policy and to develop 
possible training programmes in areas of common interest with other technical partners . 
The IICA 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 particular in Latin 
America and the Caribbean) related to matters such as bioeconomy and innovation ; 
family farming  and territorial development ; food health , quality and safety ; climate 
change and agricultural resilience ; and gender and youth.  
In this connection, t he IICA has begun informal discussions with the WTO to  formalize 
and establish a partnership agenda  between  the IICA and the WTO , setting out priority 
areas in trade  for both institutions . G/AG/GEN/ 220 
 
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  d. Compliance by countries with agricultural notification requirements : In 
document G/AG/GEN/86/Rev. 47 of November  2022, the Committee identified countries 
that have fallen behi nd in submitting agricultural notifications . In this light, the IICA will 
continue to support the WTO's initiatives to conduct activities including national and/or 
regional workshops and other training events that are geared towards Latin American 
and Cari bbean countries to help them to improve their transparency commitments and 
ensure they are up to date with those commitments . Similarly, it will support and 
channel national and regional initiatives that require WTO  technical cooperation.  
In this connectio n, in February of this year, the IICA  held a face -to-face workshop  in 
partnership with the WTO  on the Agreement on Agriculture and notifications thereunder  
in San Salvador, El Salvador, to support  the country in building its technical capacities 
in this area . 
In the course of the year, the intention is to hold a face -to-face workshop in Geneva on 
agriculture negotiations in the run -up to the Thirteenth Ministerial Conference (MC13) . 
The aim of the workshop would be to identify progress made  in the  post-MC12  
agriculture negotiations , particular ly: (a) prospects for the pace of negotiations in 
Geneva ; (b) the interests of the various actors ; (c) the identific ation of the Latin 
American and Caribbean region's position on topi cs related to its interests ; (d) 
possibilities for integration of the region al bloc; and (e) the more active involvement of 
this region's representatives in leadership role s. 
e. 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.  
This year , the IICA and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) will be 
working on  a publication on the road to MC13 , covering the main negotiating topics in 
the area of  agriculture . 
Similarly , the IICA is interested in publishing a good practice s handbook  in conjunction 
with the WTO Secretariat in order to participate effectively in meetings of the WTO  
Committee on Agriculture and enhance  member countries'  participation.  
3  TRADE AND AGRICULTURAL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITHIN THE INSTITUTE  
3.1.  The IICA's activities i n 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 
implementation of the plan will promote knowledge management and  support the work carried out 
under the IICA's International Trade and Regional Integration Programme through its action lines 
on trade policy ; market access ; trade promotion and internationalization of businesses ; coordination 
through technical cooperation services ; and mobilization of  relevant resources for inter -American 
agriculture, in accordance with the IICA's 2022 -2025 Medium -term Plan . 
3.2.  The IICA has an experienced network of experts in agriculture and international trade based 
at its central headquarters, at its offices in 34 member countries in the Americas and at its 
Permanent Office for Europe, in Spain.  
3.3.  For further information, please  contact:  
Adriana Campos Azofeifa  Daniel Rodríguez Sáenz  
Technical specialist . International Trade and 
Regional Integration Programme (IICA)  
Email : adriana.campos@iica.int  Manager . International Trade and Regional 
Integration Programme (IICA)  
Email: daniel.rodriguez@iica.int  
 
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