G/L/1509  
G/AG/37  
2 November 2023  
(23-7421) Page: 1/3 
Council for Trade in Goods  
Committee on Agriculture    
 
  
REPORT ON IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FUNCTIONING OF  THE COMMITTEE ON 
AGRICULTURE  
(APPROVED1 ON 1 NOVEMBER 2023)  
1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  This report has been prepared at the request2 of the Chairperson of the Council for Trade in 
Goods (CTG). On 30 June 2023, the CTG Chair held a meeting with the Chairs of subsidiary bodies , 
at which they were requested to submit report s to the CTG no later than in the first week of  
November 2023  reflecting  improvements made in the functioning of their respective bod ies since 
the conclusion of MC12.  
1.2.  Current discussions  on the issues relating to the functioning of the Committee on 
Agriculture  (CoA) commenced in October 2022 with the request from the CTG Chair to Chairs of CTG 
subsidiary bodies to submit reports on the  functioning of respect bodies. The CoA Chairperson's 
report on the functioning of the CoA is contained in G/AG/W/229 -G/L/1470  dated 9  December  2022. 
Based on the reports submitted by the CTG subsidiary bodies, including the CoA, the Secretariat 
circulated a matrix3 containing an overview of comparable and quantifiable elements across the 
various reports. The CoA has since taken up this matter regularly at its informal and formal meetings.  
1.3.  Several Members a cknowledged that the CoA was a highly efficient body and credited the 
Secretariat  for support ing its work. In this regard, Members recalled the several improvements, 
including the launch of the Agriculture Information Management System (AG -IMS)4, which had been 
introduced over the years in the work and mechanics  of the C ommittee pursuant to the 2009 -2011 
work programme5 to improve transparency and timeliness and completeness of notifications 
launched pursuant to a communication to this effect from the then Chair person  of the General 
Council to the Chairs of all WTO Counc ils and Committees. The Secretariat  note G/AG/GEN/206  
dated 21 September 2022 describes the improvements introduced over the recent period towards 
the efficient organization of the Co A's work and its digital tools and documentation practices.   
2  PROCESS AND PROPOSALS  
2.1.  The Committee undertook discussions on its functioning regularly at its informal and formal 
meetings in 2023:  
a. Members had an initial exchange of views on th is topic a t the informal CoA meeting  on 
13 March6 based on a joint submission  JOB/AG/238/Rev.1 and other symbols7; 
b. At the informal CoA  meeting o n 27 March8 and the formal CoA meeting on 27 -28 March9, 
Members identified t hree specific elements dealing with i) training and assistance to 
 
1 Through a written procedure ( RD/AG/121  refers).  
2 See documents JOB/CTG/29 , JOB/CTG/33  and JOB/GC/345/Add.1 .  
3 G/C/W/824/Rev.1 . 
4 https://agims.wt o.org/ . 
5 Annex 6 of G/AG/R/55  refers.  
6 Annex 4 of G/AG/R/105 . 
7 The latest revision of this document is contained in JOB/AG/238/Rev.3 and other symbols . 
8 Annex 3 of G/AG/R/105 . 
9 Section 3.3 of G/AG/R/105 . G/L/1509 • G/A G/37 
 
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  agriculture delegates on the work of the CoA; ii) role of existing digital tools  (Agriculture 
Information Management System (AG -IMS)) and iii) scheduling of meetings ; 
c. At the informal CoA meeting s on 6 June10 and 27 June11, Members specifically considered 
matters related, inter alia,  to i) a 'style manual' containing an explanation of the different 
types of the CoA document symbols ; ii) linkage between the Q&A AG-IMS database of the 
CoA and a house -wide STC database; and ii i) deadlines for the submission of questions 
and closure of CoA agenda . Some cross-cutting suggestions such as the use of interactive 
meetings calendars and annotated agenda also came up in the discussions ; 
d. In light of the discussions on this matter in the  Committee, including based on written 
submissions12, the Secretariat, in consultation with the CoA Chairperson, prepared a 
tabular summary of various suggestions and proposal  along with some practical 
suggestions on the matters raised for Members'  consideration  (initially in Annex 1  
to ICN/AG/2 , later revised in RD/AG/111  dated 16 June 2023 )13; 
e. At the formal meeting of the CoA on 27 -28 June, the Committee approved the use of an 
annotated agenda for its meetings along the draft circulated by the Secretariat 
in RD/AG/11214; 
f. The issue of existing deadlines for raising and responding to questions again came up in 
the discussions  at the informal CoA meeting o n 27 September .15 
2.2.  In the context of ongoing discussions among Members on the existing deadlines for raising and 
responding  to questions under the Committee's working procedures,  the Secretariat circulated the 
"reminder airgram"16 for the November 2023 Committee meeting one week earlier than the usual 
circulation timeline of 4-weeks prior to Committee meetings.  
2.3.  Improving tran sparency and efficiency of the Committee's work is an ongoing task. Discussions 
on the transparency and efficiency of the Committee have taken place routinely in its informal 
meetings for some years.  Members intend to continue their deliberations on these matters in the 
Committee . 
3  IMPROVEMENTS ON THE FUNCTIONING OF THE COMMITTEE ON AGRILCUTRE  
3.1.  As a result of the discussions described in Section 2 of this report, the following 
9 improvements17 have been agreed to be implemented  to enhance the functioning of t he 
Committee.  
 
10 ICN/AG/2 and ICN/AG/2/Corr.1  and Annex 4 of G/AG/R/106 . 
11 ICN/AG/5  and Annex 5 of G/AG/R/106 . 
12 JOB/AG/238/Rev.1  and JOB/CTG/26/Rev.1 . 
13 Please refer to G/AG/R/105  (paragraphs 3.59 -3.60 and Annexes 3 and 4) and G/AG/R/106  
(paragraphs 4.37 -4.38 and Annex 5) and G/AG/R/107 (to be issued) .  
14 Paragraph 4.38 of G/AG/R/106 . 
15 ICN/AG/8  and G/AG/R/107  (to be issued) . 
16 The CoA " reminder airgram" contains, among other things, the date(s) of the upcoming Committee 
meeting, a list of notifications issued since the previous Committee meeting, and the deadline for the 
submission of questions or other items on the agenda of the m eeting.   
17 The list doesn't include some improvements being introduced as a Secretariat -wide exercise. The CoA 
and CoA SS Secretariat have, for example, commenced efforts to gradually shift to the E -registration system to 
eventually substitute their current delegate mailing list s. The current mailing list of Ag -Attachés  will be 
maintained during the transition period.  G/L/1509 • G/AG/37  
 
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  General area  Improvements in the functioning of the Committee on Agriculture  
A. Assistance to delegates  • Regular introductory sessions on the functioning of the CoA : 
starting November 2023, the Secretariat will organize an annual 
introductory session on the functioning of the Committee for the new 
Geneva - and capital -based agriculture delegates in a hybrid setting.  
• Development of a delegate manual on how to prepare and  follow  
CoA meetings:  the Secretariat has updated the Committee webpage  to 
provide at one place all necessary information and explanation as well as  
links to CoA documents to facilitate delegates' participation in CoA 
meetings. The Secretariat, in collaboration with the Inter-American 
Institute for Agricultural Cooperation (IICA) , is developing a delegate 
manual on CoA participation.  
• Updated guidance to support the effective use of the AG -IMS 
system:  some user manuals have been made available under the "Help" 
tab of the AG -IMS. The Secretariat is working to develop additional 
training materials on AG -IMS. 
B. Conduct of formal meetings  • Introduction of an annotated agenda:  at the formal meeting of the 
CoA on 27 -28 June 2023, the Committee approved the use of an 
annotated agenda for its meetings along the draft circulated by the 
Secretariat in RD/AG/112.  
• Inclusion of hyperlinks to download referenced documents in 
documentation : this practice has been implemented in all CoA 
documents to the extent possible.   
C. Conduct of informal meetings  • Use of ICN document symbols to convene informal meetings : the 
Secretariat  has commenced using the ICN/AG/ series for releasing the 
convening notices of informal meetings.  
• Circulation of Chair's reports on informal CoA meetings in 
advance of the formal meeting: Chair reports on Informal CoA 
meetings have  started to be shared with Members in advance. When 
Informal CoA meetings were held almost in continuum with a formal 
meeting, an attempt is been made, as practicable, to ensure that 
Members  receive a copy of Chair's report on the Informal at the moment 
it is presented at the formal meeting.   
D. Digital tools used by the 
Committee  • AG-IMS enhancements:  the Secretariat introduced two enhancements 
to the AG-IMS in 2023, namely,  
i) Export Competition Questionnaire (ECQ) on -line tool enabling online 
submission of Members' responses to the ECQ and online data extraction 
and reporting functions; and  
ii) first tranche of the Domestic support database allowing extraction of 
reports  on the three 'exempt' domestic support categories, namely the 
Green Box, Article  6.2 development programmes, and the Blue Box, both 
in the notified currency and in  USD.  
 
 
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