G/L/1520  
 
30 November 2023  
(23-8139) Page: 1/5 
   
 
REPORT (2023) ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE  
REPORT BY THE CHAIRPERSON  
1.1.  The present report is being circulated by the Chairperson of the Committee on Agriculture on 
his own responsibility. This report provides a summary of the activities of the Committee on 
Agriculture ("the Committee") during 2023.  
1.2.  The Committee organized four formal meetings in 202 3 on 27-28 March, 27 -28 June, 
27-28 September , and 27 -29 November  2023.1 Seven  informal meetings of the Committee w ere 
held respectively on  13 February, 13 March, 27 March, 6 June, 27 June, 27 September, and 
27 November. Mr. Marcel V ernooij  of the Netherlands chaired the Committee's Mar ch and June 
meetings . In June 2023, t he Committee elected  Mr. Kjetil Tysdal of Norway  as the new Chairperson 
for 2023-2024. Mr. Tysdal chaired the September and November Committee meetings in 2023.  
1.3.  In accordance with Article 18.1 of the Agreement on Agriculture ("the Agreement") , at each of 
its meetings , the Committee reviewed progre ss in the implementation of Members' commitments. 
This review process is undertaken based on notifications submitted by Members in the areas of 
market access, domestic support, export competition, export prohibitions and restrictions as well as 
under the follow-up to the Ministerial Decision on Measures Concerning the Possible Negative Effects 
of the Reform Programme on Least -Developed and Net Food -Importing Developing 
Countries  (NFIDC  Decision ). Between 1  January and  29 November, 3 88 agriculture  notifications 
were circulated.  
1.4.  In 202 3, Memb ers posed 320 questions in connection with specific notifications during the 
Committee's review process.2 These questions were distributed as follows: 84% related to domestic 
support issues, 12% to market acce ss, and the remaining 4 % in relation  to the  export competition, 
export restrictions and prohibitions , and the NFIDC Decision. Specific concerns were also raised 
regarding outstanding notifications that some Members had yet to submit to the Committee . 
1.5.  Membe rs also raised a wide range of matters relevant to the implementation of commitments, 
independently of notifications, under Article 18.6 of the Agreement. A total of 360 questions on 
129 specific implementation matters (SIMs) were raised by 20 Members during 202 3. Out of these, 
80 SIMs were discussed for the first time in 202 3. The remaining matters were discussed on one or 
more occasions in previous years .  
1.6.  Since 2018, the Secretariat  has been monitoring the number of outstanding responses unde r 
the CoA review proces s.3 A gradual reduction in the number of outstanding responses has been 
observed since this exercise started. As of the November  Committee meeting, 144 responses were 
pending for questions raised during  2013-2021 and 36 for question s raised in 2022. The successive 
Chairpersons continued to encourage Members to increase their efforts to submit the outstanding 
responses as a means to enhance the efficacy of the Committee's monitoring functions.  
1.7.  At each meeting , the Committee reviewed the status of Members' compliance with their 
notification obligations under the Agreement  on Agriculture based on the  Secretariat document 
 
1 The summary reports of these meetings are contained in documents G/AG/R/105 , G/AG/R/106 , 
G/AG/R/107 , and G/AG/R/108  (to be issued).  
2 See G/AG/W/231 , G/AG/W/237 , G/AG/W/241 , and G/AG/W/243 . 
3 The Secretariat circulated a list of outstanding responses in documents G/AG/W/204/Rev.9 , 
G/AG/W/204/Rev.10 , and G/AG/W/204/Rev.11 .  G/L/1520  
 
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  summarizing the status of compliance with notification requirements.4 While a significant proportion 
of notification s are still outstanding (about 2 3% of all notifications from 1995 -2021), Members  are 
continui ng their  efforts to bring their notification record up to date. In 2023, Members used for the 
first time the simplified mechanism agreed at the November 2022 meeti ng5 to allow Members to 
orally announce at Committee meetings their non -recourse to export subsidies in order to fulfil their 
outstanding export subsidy notifications (Table ES:1). In 2023, a total of nine  Members used this 
mechanism at the March and June meetings to announce their non -recourse to export subsidies and 
clear thereby a total of more than 190 years of their outstanding export subsidy notifications . 
1.8.  The Committee conducted the annual monitoring exercise  on the follow up to the Marrakesh 
NFIDC Decision under Article 16.2 of the Agreement on Agriculture and the annual consultations 
under Article 18.5 to review the normal growth of world agricultural trade in the context of export 
subsidy commitments  at its November meeting.  The NFIDC monitoring exercise was undertaken on 
the basis of Table  NF:1 notifications by donor Members, contributions by Members and observer 
organizations6, as well as a background note prepared by the Secretariat.7 The WTO list of NFIDCs 
was updated to include Tonga as decided at the meeting of the Committee on 27 -28 March 2023.8 
The consultations to review the normal growth of world agricultural trade were informed by a 
background note by the Secretariat9. 
1.9.  The Co mmittee also discussed follow -up to the Ministerial Outcomes, specifically related to 
(i) the Understanding on Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) Administration Provisions of Agricultural Products, 
as defined in Article 2 of the Agreement on Agriculture10; (ii) the Ministerial Declaration on the 
Emergency Response to Food Insecurity11; (iii) Ministerial Declaration on the WTO response to the 
COVID -19 pandemic and preparedness for future pandemics12; (iv) the Nairobi Ministerial Decision 
on Export Competition13; and (v)  Bali Decision on Public Stockholding (PSH) for food security 
purposes .14 With respect to the Bali PSH Decision, a group of Members  updated the Committee on 
their consultations with India under paragraph 6 of the Decision.15  
1.10.  On the B ali TRQ Decision, at the June meeting, Members concluded the first triennial review 
of the operation of the Bali TRQ Decision . The report of the review was  circulated under  G/AG/36 . 
The approved report includes , inter alia , an agreement among Members on enhanced tr ansparency 
of MA:2 notifications in respect of TRQs with country -specific quota allocations in the Schedule . The 
notifying Members in such cases are encouraged to report imports disaggregated by supplying 
countries , along with total in -quota imports.  
1.11.  The Committee continued discussions on a dedicated work programme on food security 
pursuant to the MC12 Declaration on Food Insecurity in accordance with the agreement16 reached 
among Members on the thematic outline of  the work programme and the associated working 
methods. The Working Group set up under the agreed work programme had seven meetings 
in 2023.17 The first four meetings were coordinated by Mr. Marcel Vernooij of the Netherlands. Upon 
the departure of Mr. Ver nooij from Geneva in July 2023, Mr. Kjetil Tysdal of Norway took over as 
the new coordinator of the working group. Mr. Tysdal coordinated the working group discussions 
during the three meetings held from September to November 2023 . Both coordinators regula rly 
reported progress on the discussions under the work programme to the Committee.18 Members also 
submitted written contributions19 to the working group. The Secretariat prepared a summary of 
 
4 G/AG/GEN/86/Rev.48 , G/AG/GEN/86/Rev.49 , G/AG/GEN/86/Rev.50  and G/AG/GEN/86/Rev.51 . 
5 G/AG/R/104 , paragraph 2.17.  
6 G/AG/GEN/ 230 and G/AG/GEN/231  (submissions respectively by the FAO and the WFP ). 
7 G/AG/W/42/Rev.23/Add.1 . 
8 G/AG/5/Rev.12 . 
9 G/AG/W/32/Rev.22  
10 WT/MIN(13)/39 – WT/L/914 . 
11 WT/MIN(22)/28 – WT/L/1139 . 
12 WT/MIN(22)/31 - WT/L/1142 . 
13 WT/MIN/(15)/45 – WT/L/980 .  
14 WT/MIN(13)/38 – WT/L/913 .  
15 Paragraphs 3.44 to 3.57 of G/AG/R/105 . 
16 G/AG/35 . 
17 1 March 2023, 17 April 2023 ( ICN/AG/1 ), 8 June 2023 ( ICN/AG/3 ), 19 July 2023 ( ICN/AG/6 ), 
21 September 2023 ( ICN/AG/7 ), 31 October 2023 ( ICN/AG/9 ), and 13 November, reconvened on 
20 November 2023 ( ICN/AG/10 ). 
18 Annex 2 of G/AG/R/105 , Annex 3 of G/AG/R/106 , and Annex 3 of G/AG/R/107 . 
19 RD/AG/114  and RD/AG/114/Add.1 , RD/AG/115  and RD/AG/119 .  G/L/1520  
 
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  Members' responses20 to the questionnaire on food security need s and challenges of LDCs and 
NFIDCs, as contained in G/AG/W/233 . The coordinator's reports, encapsulating potential areas of 
convergence and recommendations arising from the work program, are contained in G/AG/W/240 , 
RD/AG/120 , RD/AG/120/Rev.1 , and RD/AG/120/Rev.2 . The revised report by the coordinator in 
RD/AG/120/Rev.2 was considered at the final meeting of the Working Group on 13 and 20 November 
2023. However, the Working Group did not reach a consensus to finaliz e its report and 
recommendations for transmission to the Committee, as one Member expressed concerns about 
some elements of the report. Consequently, the coordinator provided a report on the work and 
status of discussions in the Working Group to the Commit tee at its meeting on 27 -29 November. 
The Committee took note of the report by the coordinator and acknowledged the current lack of 
consensus based on the revised coordinator's report in RD/AG/120/Rev.2. The Chairperson also 
informed the Committee that he might convene a special meeting, pursuant to paragraph 6 of the 
Committee's working procedures, if consensus were to emerge in the coming days based on the 
revised report of the Coordinator in RD/AG/120/Rev.2. There was no agreement to further extend 
the continuation of the working group beyond the agreed timeline of 30 November 2023 .21 
1.12.  As was agreed at the special meeting of the Committee in June 2020, the Committee 
continued to discuss 'COVID -19 and Agriculture' in its meetings in 2023. Since the Septembe r 2022 
meeting of the Committee, the discussions were taken up within the overall guidance of the 
MC12 Declaration  on the WTO Response to the COVID -19 Pandemic and Preparedness for Future 
Pandemics specifically in light of paragraph 24 of the Declaration. For all meetings in 2023, the 
Committee undertook discussions on 'COVID -19 and Agriculture' together with the agenda on the 
Work Programme pursuant to paragraph 8 of the MC12 Declaration on food insecurity in view of the 
overlap across them. These discussi ons were organized based on submissions by Members22 and 
observer international organizations23. At the request of the Chair of the Council for Trade in 
Goods  (CTG) in October 202224, the Chair of the Committee, in consultation with the Secretariat, 
prepared a factual report25 on the Committee's activities in relation to COVID -19. The Chair's report 
highlighted the impressive job the Committee had done in carrying out its functions during the 
COVID -19 pandemic, both in terms of the proces s, starting from a special meeting that the 
Committee held in June 2020 as well as efforts towards enhanced transparency, including via ad hoc  
reports on Members' COVID -19 agricultural measures to enable a timely review of Members' 
measures taken in respon se to the pandemic.  
1.13.  The follow -up to the Nairobi Ministerial Decision on Export Competition mainly consisted of 
the annual dedicated discussion on export competition . The 2023  annual dedicated discussion took 
place in the June 2023 meeting based on the Sec retariat's background document26 as well as specific 
questions raised by Members on matters related to the implementation of the Nairobi Decision.27 
Regarding the modification of the  scheduled export subsidy commitments pursuant to the Nairobi 
Decision, th e latest situation as reported by the Chairperson at the September  2023 Committee 
meeting was as follows: out of the 16 Members with export subsidy reduction commitments at the 
time of the Nairobi Decision, 13 Members28 had their schedule revised pursuant to the Decision, 
two29 other Members had submitted their revised draft schedule in 2017 where the certification has 
been pending, and the remaining one Member30 had not yet circulated its draft schedule.   
1.14.  The Committee maintained a standing item on its agenda relating to implementation -related  
issues, both in the framework of its follow -up to the Decision by the Doha Ministerial Conference on 
 
20 Argentina ; Australia ; Bangladesh ; Brazil, Canada ; Chile; China ; Dominican Republic; Egypt ; the 
European Union ; Hong Kong, China; India; Japan ; Korea, Republic of; the LDC Group ; Mauritius ; Myanmar ; 
Nepal ; New Zealand ; Pakistan; Paraguay ; Russian Federation ; Sri Lanka ; Switzerland ; Chinese  Taipei ; 
Thailand ; Türkiye;  the United Kingdom ; and the United States of America . 
21 G/AG/35 . 
22 JOB/AG/248  and ot her symbols (India).  
23 G/AG/GEN/21 7 (FAO), G/AG/GEN/218  and G/AG/GEN/231  (WFP), G/AG/GEN/221  (WFP), 
G/AG/GEN/227  (IGC), and G/AG/GEN/228  and G/AG/GEN/230  (FAO).  
24 JOB/CTG/18 . 
25 G/AG/W/228 - G/L/1469 . 
26 G/AG/W/125/Rev.18 , G/AG/W/125/Rev.19 ,  addenda  and corrigenda . 
27 Section 5 of G/AG/W/237  and G/AG/W/241 . 
28 Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Iceland, Indonesia, Israel, Mexico, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland, 
Türkiye , United States of America, and Uruguay.  
29 Canada and the European Union.  
30 Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.  G/L/1520  
 
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  Implementation -Related Issues and Concerns31, as well as in the framework of issues and proposals 
referred to it by the General Council. At the March 2023, t he Committee agreed to the Chairperson's 
suggestion to take up the agenda item on implementation -related issues only at the November 
meetings o f the Committee.32  
1.15.   In 2023, the Committee continued its deliberations on possible elements to enhance 
transparency and the Committee's review process. The issue was considered in seven informal 
meetings on 13  February, 13 March, 27  March, 6 June, 27 June,  27 September, and 27 November. 
As outcomes of these discussions, the Committee approved the use of an annotated agenda for its 
meetings along the draft circulated by the Secretariat,  a trial basis for the June 2023 CoA meeting 
in document RD/AG/112 . At the re quest of the CTG Chair, the Committee also finalized a report on 
the improvements which had been agreed to be implemented to enhance its functioning.33 With the 
aim of providing Members with a timely advance notice to prepare questions, and additional time  to 
the responding Members to enable them to provide adequate responses  in the course of Committee  
meetings, the Committee agreed , on 29 November, to modify the current timelines for raising 
matters at its meetings .34  
1.16.  The Committee also continued discussions aimed at improving the timeliness and 
completeness of  Members' notifications as well as examining notification requirements in the pillars 
of export competition and market access.35 To facilitate the deliberations o n export competition 
notifications and transparency, the Chair, with the assistance of the Secretariat, presented 
suggestions for the consideration of Members.36 
1.17.  In 2023, based on Members written submissions37, the Committee also dwelt on the cross -
cutting  themes of transfer of technology38 and the intersection between trade and environment. In 
a separate, but not unrelated agenda item, the Committee, at the request of some Members39, also 
discussed a letter by a group of seventeen Members across different continents regarding the 
European Union's regulation on deforestation -free products (EUDR).  
1.18.  Several online tools support the Committee's monitoring and transparency functions. 
Since  2012, t he Agriculture Information Management System (AG -IMS)40 has facilit ated Member 
submission of questions and responses in the context of the Committee's monitoring of 
implementation of commitments. In March 2023, the Secretariat launched the Export Competition  
Questionnaire  (ECQ) Information Management System, providing onl ine functionality for the on -line 
submissions of ECQ responses, along with online data extraction and reporting functions. Meanwhile, 
during the Committee meetings in 2023, the Secretariat regularly updated Members on the progress 
made regarding the projec t to develop a database on agricultural domestic support sourcing the 
information from Members' domestic support notifications. The Secretariat completed and delivered 
the first part of the database for use by Members (and the general public) in July 2023.  The first set 
of reports on the three 'exempt' domestic support categories, namely the Green Box, Article  6.2 
development programmes, and the Blue Box are already accessible on the AG -IMS, both in the 
notified currency and in  USD.  At an information sessio n held in the margins of the November 
Committee meeting , the Secretariat made a detailed presentation on the Committee's review 
process, and the digital tools maintained by the Secretariat.41  
1.19.  Regarding technical assistance activities, the WTO Secretariat delivered the first virtual phase 
of the advanced agriculture notification workshop on 3 -5 October 2023. The second phase is 
scheduled to take place in September 2024. In 2022, the WTO's Agriculture and Commodities 
Division delivered workshops on the Agree ment on Agriculture and notifications in the Dominican 
Republic (virtually) ; Honduras ; Kazakhstan ; Moldova,  Republic of;  Nigeria ; and El Salvador.  
 
31 WT/MIN(01)/17 , para. 2.  
32 G/AG/R/105 , para. 3.65 to 3.66.  
33 G/L/1509 - G/AG/37 . 
34 G/AG/1/Add.1 . 
35 G/AG/W/232  (China), G/AG/ W/230  (Costa Rica), and RD/AG/110  (European Union).  
36 ICN/AG/2 , RD/AG/109 , RD/AG/109/Rev.1 , RD/AG/117 ,  RD/AG/118 . 
37 G/AG/W/238  (African Group), G/AG/W/239  (African Group), G/AG/GEN/222/Rev.1  (Cairns Group),  
38 At the November meeting, the Committee advised the Secretariat to explore the organization of 
thematic discussions on technology transfer  in 2024.  
39 G/AG/GEN/ 223/Rev.2  (Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia, Paraguay, and Thailand ). 
40 http://agims.wto.org/ . 
41 RD/AG/125 . G/L/1520  
 
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  Additionally, upon request, the Secretariat organized one -on-one trainings on the AG -IMS to assist 
Members with the use of the online notification submission system.  
1.20.  The following international intergovernmental organizations have regular observer status in 
the Committee: Food and Agriculture Organization  (FAO) , International Monetary Fund  (IMF) , the 
International Grains Council  (IGC) , Organisation for Economic Co -operation and 
Development  (OECD ), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD ), World Food 
Programme  (WFP) , and the World Bank.  The Committee agreed to invite the Inter -American Institute 
for Cooperation on Agriculture ( IICA) as an ad hoc observer to participate in the formal meetings of 
the Committee in 2024.  
1.21.  The dates of the meetings of the Committee in 2024 were announced at the November  2023 
CoA meeting.42 
 
 
__________  
 
42 To be issued under G/AG/GEN /232.