G/AG/34  
 
21 September  2022 
(22-7082) Page: 1/8 
Committee on Agriculture    
 
  
TARIFF RATE QUOTA UNDERFILL MECHANISM  - SECRETARIAT TRACKING REGISTER1 
1.  At the December 2013 Bali Ministerial Conference, Members adopted the Decision2 on an 
"Understanding on Tariff Rate Quota Administration Provisions of Agricultural Products, as Defined 
in Article  2 of the Agreement on Agriculture" (hereafter referred to as the Bali TRQ Decision).  
2.  Annex  A to the Bali TRQ Decision provides for an unde rfill mechanism.  The Bali TRQ Decision 
mandated a review of the future operation of paragraph 4 of the underfill mechanism. The General 
Council at its special meeting on 31 March 2022 adopted the decision3 on the future operation of 
paragraph  4 of the und erfill mechanism based on the recommendations approved by the 
Committee  on Agriculture.  
3.  The Underfill Mechanism, inter alia,  requires that a Tracking Register shall be maintained by 
the Secretariat to record matters raised under the Mechanism. The Registe r is also expected to 
record progress in the  discussions between the importing Member and the interested Member(s) 
raising a specific concern, towards the closure or resolution of the matter raised under the 
Mechanism.  
4.  At its meeting on 15 September 2022 , the Committee approved the Secretariat 's Tracking 
Register4, as attached.  
  
 
1 The Committee may periodically review and adjust the Register, as necessary, based on the 
experience of the implementation of the Underfill Mechanism.  
2 WT/MIN(13)/39.  
3 WT/L/1132.  
4 The Register will be operational to track matters when the Mechanism is invoked by any Member to 
raise specific concerns in the Committee regarding the implementation of a tariff quota commitment.   G/AG/34  
 
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  UNDERFILL MECHANISM: TRACKING OF STAGES  
1st stage: Member(s) raising a concern for the first time on a TRQ where the importing Member 
does not notify the fill rate or the fill rate is below 65%. The importing Member is to consult with 
interested Members, provide documentation on TRQ administration and also  provide a summary of 
the documentation to the Committee on Agriculture (CoA). The Members concerned are to advise 
the CoA on whether the matter has been "resolved ". Or else, the CoA will be provided with a 
statement of reasons why the matter requires furt her consideration leading to the 2nd stage  of the 
Mechanism being triggered.  
2nd stage:  Continuation of data -based consultations and information sharing. Where the fill rate 
remains below 65 % for two consecutive years, or no notification has been submitted for that period, 
a Member may request, through the CoA, that the importing Member take specific action(s) to modify 
the administration of the tariff quota concerned. After the Importing Memb er takes the requested or 
other appropriate action(s), if the resulting fill rate in the 3rd year is above 65% or the interested 
Member(s), based on data -based consultations, is (are) otherwise satisfied that lesser fill rates are 
attributable to market ci rcumstances, the matter will be recorded as "resolved ". If the fill rate 
remains below 65% in the third year, interested Member(s) may request additional modifications to 
the administration of the TRQ and the 3rd stage of the Mechanism is triggered.  
3rd stage: During the third and subsequent monitoring years, where: a) the fill rate has remained 
below 65% for three consecutive years or no notification has been submitted for that period; and 
b) the fill rate has not increased, for each of the preceding three  years, by annual increments of 
(i) at least eight percentage points when the fill rate is more than 40%; (ii) at least 12 percentage 
points when the fill rate equals or is less than 40%; and c) data -based discussions regarding market 
circumstances have no t led to the conclusion among all interested parties that these are in fact the 
reason for underfill; and d) the interested Member makes a statement in the CoA, that it wishes to 
initiate the  final stage  of the underfill mechanism, the final stage of the m echanism will be initiated.  
Final stage: The importing Member shall then promptly provide unencumbered access via one of 
the following tariff quota administration methods: a first -come, first -served only basis (at the 
border); or an automatic, unconditiona l license on demand system within the tariff quota. In taking 
a decision on which of these two options to implement, the importing Member will consult with 
interested exporting Members. The method selected shall be maintained by the importing Member 
for a minimum of two years, after which time - provided that timely notifications for the two years 
have been submitted - it will be noted on the Secretariat's tracking register and the concern marked 
as "closed" . Developing country Members may choose an alternative tariff quota administration 
method or maintain the current method in place. This choice of an alternative tariff quota 
administration method shall be notified to the CoA under the provisions of this mech anism. The 
method selected shall be maintained by the importing Member for a minimum of two years, after 
which time, if the fill rate has increased by two -thirds of the annual increments described in 
paragraph (b) of the 3rd stage, it will be noted on the Secretariat's tracking register and the concern 
marked as  "closed" . At the request of an interested Member, the provisions under paragraph  4(a) 
shall apply if after the two years the fill rate has not increased at least by two -thirds of the annual 
incremen ts described in paragraph 3(b). If no request is made, the concern shall be marked 
as "closed ". 
 
  G/AG/34  
 
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  ANNEX  
The attached Excel file  of 5 sheets/pages (accessible in electronic format from Documents  online ) 
reflects the various stages of the Mechanism and prov ides for entries to record progress in matters 
raised under the Mechanism.  
 
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