G/L/1469  
G/AG/W/228  
 
8 December 2022  
(22-9178) Page: 1/2 
Council for Trade in Goods  
Committee on Agriculture    
 
WTO RESPONSE TO THE PANDEMIC  
REPORT TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS  
BY THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE  
The following report is being submitted by the Chairperson of the Committee on Agriculture, 
Mr. Marcel VERNOOIJ, at the request of the Chairperson of the Council for Trade in Goods and was 
prepared with the assistance of the Secretariat1.  
1  INFORMATION FOR THE CTG REPORT ON COVID -19 RELATED ACTIONS  
1.1  Committee work   
1.1.  Since June 2020, the regular meetings of th e Committee on Agriculture have consistently 
enabled remote participation of delegations via the Interprefy platform with a few meetings having 
taken place exclusively in a virtual setting due to the then prevailing sanitary situation. The 
Secretariat's Q& A platform under the Agriculture Information Management System2 has greatly 
assisted the conduct of Committee's work especially during pandemic -related logistical constraints 
in respect of in -person participation when Members extensively relied on the AG -IMS platform to 
submit their responses in advance of Committee meetings allowing for deepened exchanges during 
meetings . 
1.2  Special meeting of the Committee on Agriculture on "COVID -19 and Agriculture"  
1.2.  In response to specific requests by Members, a  special me eting of the Committee was convened 
on 18 June 2020 pursuant to paragraph  6 of the Committee's working procedures (G/AG/1), focusing 
on COVID -19 and agricultural trade policies within the framework of the Agreement. This was the 
first meeting of the Commit tee held in a hybrid format. The discussions were organized based on 
specific contributions by Members on COVID -19 and agriculture as well as advance written questions 
on COVID -19 and agricultural trade policies within the setting of commitments under the Agreement 
on Agriculture.3 
1.3.  The importance of transparency and of the monitoring of COVID -19 agricultural measures was 
emphasized by Members at the special meeting.  At that meeting, Members also agreed to include 
"COVID -19 and Agriculture" as a standing it em on the agenda of future Committee meetings. It was 
also agreed to invite the observer international organizations to contribute to the discussions under 
this agenda item.  
1.3  Transparency   
1.4.  Transparency has remained central in Members' discussions on the COVID -19 pandemic. 
Considering that a majority of regular agricultural notifications being 'annual' and required after the 
end of the relevant "year", the then Chairperson of the Committee wh ile convening the special 
meeting in June 2020 encouraged Members to share "ad hoc " reports on their agricultural measures 
taken in response to the COVID -19 pandemic towards an informed exchange of views in the 
Committee. Since then, eleven Members have submitted twenty -two ad hoc reports and updates on 
 
1 See document JOB/CTG/18 . 
2 Agriculture Information Management System (AGIMS)   
3 The summary report of th is meeting is contained in documents  G/AG/R/9 4 and G/AG/R/94/Add.1.  G/L/1469 • G/AG/W/228  
 
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  their COVID -19 agricultural measure s. The Secretariat prepared and updated a compilation4 of 
Members' ad -hoc reports. Starting from 2021, COVID -19 agricultural measures have also formed 
part of Members' annual notifications and have been subject to the Committee's review process.  
1.5.  Based on  request from Members, the Secretariat has developed a webpage on COVID -19 
agricultural measures as part of the WTO's overall trade monitoring exercise.5 During the June 2020 
special meeting of the Committee, Members had expressed interest to invite exper ts from other 
international organizations and benefit from their work on the monitoring and analysis of Covid -19 
agricultural measures. The Secretariat accordingly  organized an Information Session on 28 July 2020 
in the margins of the July meeting of the C ommittee and invited the Food and Agriculture 
Organization (FAO),  the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFRPI), the International 
Grains Council (IGC) and the International Trade Centre (ITC) to present their Covid19 -related 
work.6 
1.4  Dedicated C OVID -19 related activities or discussions in the Committee   
1.6.  As was agreed at the special meeting of the Committee in June 2020, "COVID -19 and 
Agriculture" has remained a standing item on the agenda of all committee meetings starting with 
the September 2020  meeting.7 The discussions have been organized based on Members' 
submissions, including ad  hoc reports on their measures taken in the agricultural sector in response 
to the COVID -19 pandemic as well as contributions by observer international organizations .8 Since 
the September  2022 meeting of the Committee, the discussions on COVID -19 and agriculture have 
taken place within the overall guidance of the MC -12 Declaration on the WTO Response to the 
COVID -19 Pandemic and Preparedness for Future Pandemics spec ifically in light of paragraph 24 of 
the Declaration. The Committee also addresses COVID -19 related matters, as relevant, in the 
context of the implementation of the Ministerial Decision on World Food Programme Food Purchases 
Exemption from Export Prohibit ion or Restrictions9, and the Ministerial Declaration on the Emergency 
Response to Food Insecurity10.  
 
 
__________  
 
4 G/AG/W/209/Rev.1.  
5 https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/covid19_e/ag_trade_measures_e.htm  . 
6 WTO | Infor mation Session on Covid -19 and Agriculture, 28 July 2020 .  
7 G/AG/R/94 -103 refer.  
8 Please refer to attachment 2 of WTO/AIR/AG/64 for a comprehensive list of COVID -19 written 
submissions considered by the Committee starting from the June 2020 special meeti ng.  
9 WT/MIN(22)/29 - WT/L/1140 . 
10 WT/MIN(22)/28 - WT/L/11 39.