G/AG/W/175/Add.1  
 
7 May 2019  
(19-3131) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Agriculture  Original: English  
 
EUROPEAN UNION SUBMI SSION TO COMMITTEE O N AGRICULTURE ON THE  PROCESS  
FOR THE REVIEW OF TH E OPERATION OF THE B ALI DECISION  
ON TARIFF RATE QUOTA  ADMINISTRATION1 
COMMUNICATION FROM T HE EUROPEAN UNION  
Addendum  
The following submission, dated 29  April 2019, is being circulated at the request of the delegation 
of the European Union . 
 
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Following its communication  G/AG/W/175 of 1 8 May 2018, the EU would like to contribute further 
to the ongoing work on the review process, notably on  the report by the Secretariat (G/AG/W/192) 
and on possible recommendations for future work . 
 
1  ON THE REPORT (G/AG/W/192)  
1.1.  The EU agrees that from a factual point of view a wide range of issues have been raised as 
points of interest by Members, often without  consensus. As such, the EU understand the factual 
coverage in the report of these issues and that the items listed in point 1.3 of G/AG/W/192 were 
raised by Members during the previous meetings.  
1.2.  However, in line with its communication G/AG/W/175, t he EU would recall that a number of 
these issues are related to market access negotiations  and not to TRQ administration and therefore 
do not belong in the recommendations resulting from the review.  
2  ON FUTUR E WORKS  
2.1.  Concerning the recommendations from Committee on Agriculture to the General Council on 
future work, the EU considers that they should be presented separately from the report itself or as 
an additional point 1.6 in document G/AG/W/192 as follows : 
"1.6 Future Work:  
The General Council mandates the Committee on Agriculture to:  
• Examine in depth the application of paragraph 4  of Annex A to the  Ministerial Decision 
Understanding on Tariff Rate Quota Administration Provisions of Agricultural Products, as 
Defined in Artic le 2 of the Agreement on Agriculture (WT/MIN(13)/39 or WT/L/914) and 
make proposals with a view in particular,  to ensur ing its application to all Members .  
• Prepare guidelines on harmoni sed notification practices f or TRQ fill rates , noting the 
importance of  enhanced transparency o n TRQ administration and fill rates and timely 
submission of notifications by Members . Notification obligations in document G/AG/2 should 
be reviewed accordingly , acknowledg ing that the on-line agriculture notification system 
should  already lead to improved harmoni sation.  
                                                
1 Document G/AG/W/171 of 9 February 2018.  G/AG/W/175/Add.1  
 
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  • Undertake a regular review of the operation of the Decision every [3] years. " 
3  ON SPECIAL AND DIFFE RENTIAL TREATMENT (S DT) 
3.1.  The EU support s SDT and its continued place in the WTO notably to help less developed 
countries to take commitments at an appropriate pace. However, the SDT approach in the 
TRQ Decision creates unjustified differen ces in  rights and obligations between WTO Members, and 
even between  developing c ountries. The EU considers that the membership should consider better 
ways of applying S DT to the management of TRQs and should in particular ensure that all 
WTO Member s take on commitments, taking into account their developmental status as well as 
similar  rights under the Decision . 
 
 
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