G/AG/36  
 
29 June 2023  
(23-4424) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Agriculture    
 
 
REPORT OF THE 1ST TRIENNIAL REVIEW OF THE OPERATION  
OF THE BALI TRQ DECISION  
APPROVED BY THE COMMITTEE ON 28 JUNE 2023  
INTRODUCTION AND MANDATE  
1.1.  At the Ninth Session of the Ministerial Conference, Ministers adopted the Decision on 
"Understanding on Tariff Rate Quota Administration Provisions of Agricultural Products, as defined 
in Article  2 of the Agreement on Agriculture" (WT/MIN(13)/39  – WT/L/914 ), hereafter referred to as 
the "Bali  TRQ Decision". Paragraph 13 of the Bali  TRQ Decision mandated a review of the operation 
of this Decision no later than four years following its adoption. After two years of detailed 
deliberations, the Committee adopted the report1 of the Review and the associated 
recommendations at its 31  October  2019 meeting, for transmission to the General Council. The 
General Council considered the report at its December 2019 meeting and approved the 
recommendations contained in Annex  2 thereto.2 The agreed recommendations contain several 
measures and processes aime d at enhancing transparency and improving TRQ notification practices. 
Paragraph 3 of the agreed recommendations provides:  
"The Committee agrees to undertake regular reviews of the operation of the Bali TRQ Decision 
every three years after the conclusion of  this review. These regular reviews will include, 
inter alia, an examination of the utilization of the Underfill Mechanism based on submissions 
by Members."  
1.2.  Until 31 March 2022, Members in their discussions on the follow -up to the Bali TRQ Decision 
focused  their efforts primarily on reaching an agreement on the future operation paragraph 4 of the 
Underfill Mechanism.3  
CONTENT OF DISCUSSIONS  
2.1.  At the June 2022 Committee meeting, Members exchanged views on what specific issues they 
wish to consider during the  first triennial review and what outcomes they seek to accomplish from 
it. Several suggestions were made, including by reference to the written submissions made during 
the 2017 -2019 review exercise as reflected in Annex 1 to G/AG/29. These specific suggest ions4 
included the following:  
a. Examining the link and exploring the synergy between notifications on TRQ administration 
under the Agreement on Agriculture and the Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures;  
b. Improving and harmonizing the MA:2 notifications by : 
i. presentation of imports data disaggregated by supplying  countries in cases of TRQs with 
country -specific allocations ; 
 
1 G/AG/29 refers.  
2 Paragraphs 3.1 to 3.7 of WT/GC/M/181 refer.  On the mandated issue of the future operation of 
paragraph  4 of the underfill mechanism, Members had not reached an agreement during the 2017 -19 Review.  
3 A decision on this outstanding issue was adopted by the  General Council on 31 March 2022 (WT/L/1132 
refers) based on the recommendations approved by the Committee on Agriculture in G/AG/32/Add.1.  
4 Annex 2 of G/AG/R/102.  G/AG /36 
 
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  ii. presentation of disaggregated imports data by origin for the erga omnes  TRQs; 
iii. inclusion of applied in -quota and out of quota duties for tariff lines comprising a TRQ ; 
and 
iv. presentation of imports data by tariff line s rather than aggregate basis . 
c. Update of the Secretariat background note in the G/AG/W/183/ series; and include therein, 
inter alia a review of Members' MA:1 not ifications on changes to TRQ administration 
arrangements made in response to obligations in paragraphs 2 -5 of the Bali TRQ Decision as 
well as compliance with paragraph 6 of the Decision dealing with the notification of fill rates.  
d. Approval of the Secretar iat Underfill Tracking Register.  
2.2.  The discussions on the triennial review continued at the September 2022 meeting5, including 
on the specific suggestions made during the June meeting. On the issue of the linkage between the 
notification requirements on TRQ  administration under the Agreement on Agriculture and the 
Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures, it was stressed that the effort should be to enhance 
transparency rather than undermining it. As regards the suggestions to improve the transparency 
and co nsistency of MA:2 notifications, support was expressed for notifying imports by supplying  
countries in cases of TRQs with country -specific allocations. Some Members additionally suggested 
that imports data should be disaggregated by tariff line, especially  in case of underfilled TRQs. On 
the latter suggestion, a few other Members considered the need for further discussions; they raised 
the issue of balance between transparency and burdensomeness, as well as the nature of current 
TRQ commitments being schedu led on an aggregate basis.  
2.3.  As regards the suggestion in paragraph 2.1 (c) above, the Secretariat circulated the revised 
background note6 on "Tariff Quotas -Administration Practices, Fill rates, and Notification Practices, 
2015-2021" on 7 September 2022 which was subject to preliminary review at the 14 -15 September 
2022 Committee meeting. At the same meeting, the Committee approved the Secretariat tracking 
Register based on a draft7 by the Secretariat with the understanding that the Register once approved 
might be subject to review and adjustments by the Committee based on the experience gained on 
its implementation. The approved Tracking Register was later circulated in document G/AG/34.  
2.4.  At the informal meeting of the Committee on 27 October  2022, Members a gain examined the 
specific issues raised in the context of the first triennial review in order to have a greater clarity on 
possible outcomes of the review. To facilitate the consideration of the issue under 2.1 (a) above, the 
WTO Secretariat made a presen tation on the notification requirements under the Agreement on 
Import Licencing Procedures in relation to TRQs. While Members expressed willingness to achieve 
greater synergy in the transparency requirements under the two agreements in relation to the 
administration of TRQs, including based on the relevant information that the Secretariat may collate 
from Members' response to the import licensing questionnaire under Article 7.3 of the Agreement 
on Import  Licensing Procedures, they also emphasized the need f or a robust follow -up on TRQ 
utilization in the Committee on Agriculture to fulfil commitments on scheduled TRQs and the 
obligations under the Bali TRQ Decision. In this connection, a suggestion was made to review the 
Table MA :1 format in order for it to e xplicitly accommodate information on the implementation of 
the Bali TRQ Decision, especially paragraphs 1 -5 thereof.  
2.5.   Regarding the suggestions to improve and harmonize Table MA:2 notifications, Members at 
the September 2022 informal meeting generally sup ported the proposal to present imports data 
disaggregated by supplying  countries for TRQs with country -specific allocations. As regards the 
inclusion of in -quota and out -of-quota duties and imports data disaggregated by tariff line in 
Table  MA:2 notificati ons, Members' positions were divergent. Some Members considered this 
additional information to be useful for improving the quality of MA:2 notifications and their efficient 
review in the Committee, some others were not convinced that the added value of thi s proposed 
additional information was commensurate with the extra efforts required to gather and include this 
information in MA:2 notifications. Some Members also questioned the idea of presenting import data 
disaggregated by tariff line when the TRQ commi tments were scheduled on an aggregate basis for 
 
5 Annex 2 of G/AG/R/103.  
6 G/AG/W/183/Rev.2.  
7 RD/AG/83/Rev.2.  G/AG/36  
 
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  a product or product group. A reference was also made to the  2019 Decision8 by the Committee on 
Market Access on "Modalities and Operation of the Integrated Database (IDB)" to explore whether 
the information  presented by Members under that Decision could be useful for this Committee's 
follow -up on the implementation of TRQ commitments.  
2.6.   In addition to examining the specific suggestions listed in paragraph 2.1 above, the need to 
implement the 2019 recommendations approved by the General Council on enhanced transparency 
of TRQ administration and fill rates was also emphasized.9 
2.7.  Based on the discussions on these issues at the informal CoA meetings in June, Septe mber, 
October and November 2022, a draft report of the review was shared with Members in RD/AG/95 
dated 10 November 2022; a revised version, incorporating Members' comments on the draft report, 
was later circulated in RD/AG/95/Rev.1 dated 18 November 2022.  During the consideration of this 
matter at the 21 -22 November CoA meeting, Members agreed  to finalize the review at the 
March  2023 meeting of the Committee in order to get some additional time to examine the specific 
issues raised during  the review . The m atter was considered at the three Informal CoA meetings 
in 2023 respectively on 1 3 February, 13 March and 27 March.10 At the 27 -28 March 2023 Committee 
meeting, one Member  requested  additional time to consider the latest revised report  in 
RD/AG/95/Rev.3  as it was awaiting instructions from the capital. The Committee  accordingly agreed  
to finalize the review at its next meeting in June 2023.  This report , along with the following 
conclusions , was approved the Committee on Agriculture at its meeting on 28 June 2023 by 
consensus . 
CONCLUSIONS  
3.1.  The following conclusions, building upon Members' inputs and comments throughout the 
process, were agreed by the Committee as a result of the first triennial review of the operation of 
the Bali TRQ Deci sion:  
a. The Committee welcomes the agreement11 reached among Members in March 2022 on the 
future operation of paragraph 4 of the Underfill Mechanism to make the Bali TRQ Decision 
applicable to all Members by rendering paragraphs 13 -15 of the Decision and Annex B thereof 
non-operational.  
b. The Committee also acknowledges the Secretariat Tracking Register in document G/AG/34 
approved by the Committee at its meeting on 14 -15 September 2022 with the understanding 
that it might be subject to review and adjustments by the Committee based on the experience 
gained on its implementation . 
c. The Committee emphasizes the importance of timeliness and completeness of MA:1 And MA:2 
notifications and the need to implement the recommendations of the 2019 review exercise as 
contained in Annex 2 to G/AG/29.  
d. In order  to enhan ce transparency of MA:2 notifications in respect of TRQs with country -specific 
allocations in the schedule, the Committee encourages Members implementing such TRQs to 
present imports data in their annual MA:2 notifications disaggregated by quota -holder 
supplying  countries, along with total in -quota imports. 12  
e. The Committee agrees to review, based on existing 13 and future submissions by Members, 
the MA:1 notification format in G/AG/2 to enable Members to include the required information 
on the implementatio n of paragraphs 2 to 5 of the Bali TRQ Decision  in their MA:1 notifications . 
 
8 G/MA/367.  
9 Paragraph 2 o f Annex 2 to G/AG/29.  
10 Based on draft reports in RD/AG/95/Rev.2 and RD/AG/95/Rev.3.  
11 WT/L/1132.  
12 This information may be included in respect of relevant TRQs in the 'note' column of the MA:2 template 
under the on -line agriculture notification system. The Secretariat's User -Guide on MA:2 notifications at 
agims.wt o.org refers  (accessible here). 
13 G/AG/W/230 refers.  G/AG /36 
 
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  The Committee will continue its discussions on all other outstanding issues raised during the 
first triennial review as identified in section 2.1 of this report.  
f. The Committee enc ourages Members to make use of the technical assistance provided by the 
WTO Secretariat with a view to fulfilling their market access notification obligations and taking 
full advantage of the AGIMS Online Agriculture Notification System.  
 
 
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