G/AG/W/169  
 
10 October 2017  
(17-5466) Page: 1/5 
Committee on Agriculture    
 
 
MONITORING AND REVIE W OF M EMBERS' OBLIGATIONS ESTABLISHED  
UNDER THE BALI DECIS ION ON TRQ ADMINISTR ATION  
NOTE BY THE SECRETAR IAT1 
1.1.  The Ministerial Decision on the Understanding on Tariff Rate Quota Administration Provisions 
of Agricultural Products, as defined in Article 2 of the Agreement on Agriculture (document 
WT/MIN(13)/39 and WT/L/914 date 11 December 2013) adopted by Ministers at 
the 9th WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali states, inter alia  that: 
"11. The Committee on Agriculture shall review and monitor the implementation of 
Members' obligations established under this Understanding.  
12.  Members shall provide for an effective re -allocation mechanism in accordance with the 
procedures outlined in the Annex A.  
13.  A review of the operation of the De cision shall commence no later than four years 
following the adoption of the Decision, taking into account experience gained up to that 
time. The objective of this review will be to promote a continuing process of improvement in 
the utilization of tariff r ate quotas. In the context of this review the General Council shall 
make recommendations to the 12th Ministerial Conference, including on whether, and if so 
how, paragraph 4 of Annex A should be re -affirmed or modified for future operation."  
1.2.  Members also a greed in the decision that "Tariff quota "fill rates" shall be notified" .  
1.3.  As TRQ fill rates are a key component of the procedures outlined in the Annex A to the 
Decision, at the 75th meeting of the Committee on Agriculture in November 2014, the Chairperso n 
advised Members to follow a modified Table MA:2 format as a best practice to encourage 
consistent presentation of fill rates in their Table MA:2 notifications. At the request of the 
Chairperson, the Secretariat circulated on 26 November 2014 the suggeste d modified Table MA:2 
format in document G/AG/W/137 as reproduced in the Annex I. The modified Table MA:2 contains 
an extra column where Members can provide the fill rates (in percentage) of the TRQ concerned.  
1.4.  A total of 28 Members, of the 40 with TRQ comm itments, are already reporting fill rates using 
the format circulated by the Secretariat (Chart 1). Out of the 12 Members that have not notified fill 
rates, eight have either not made a single Table MA:2 notification or their latest notified 
implementation  year is earlier than the date of adoption of the Bali Ministerial Decision. There are 
also cases where Members did not include fill rates in the notification as the concerned TRQs were 
not opened. The issue of underfill of TRQs, including the transparency  with regard to the fill rates, 
has been raised regularly in the Committee on Agriculture. A list of questions raised in the CoA 
meetings after the Bali Ministerial Conference (January 2014 until June 2017) concerning TRQ fill 
rates can be found in Annex I I.   
  
                                                
1 This document has been prepared under the Secretariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice 
to the positions of Members or to their rights and obligations under the WTO.  G/AG/W/169  
 
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  Chart 1 – Notification of fill rates by Members with TRQ commitments  
Member  Notification of 
fill rates  Comments  
Australia  Yes  
Barbados  No 2001 last notified year.  
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela  No No Table MA:2 notifications have been made.  
Brazil  No TRQs not opened.  
Canada  Yes  
Chile No  
China  Yes  
Colombia  No TRQs not opened.  
Costa Rica  Yes  
Dominican Republic  No 2012 last notified year.  
Ecuador  No 2013 last notified year.  
El Salvador  Yes  
European Union  Yes  
Guatemala  Yes  
Iceland  Yes  
India No 2009 last notified year.  
Indonesia  No 2011 last notified year.  
Israel  Yes  
Japan  Yes  
Kazakhstan  Yes  
Korea, Republic of  Yes  
Malaysia  Yes  
Mexico  Yes  
Moldova  Yes  
Morocco  No 2012 last notified year.  
New Zealand  No TRQs not opened.  
Nicaragua  Yes  
Norway  Yes  
Panama  Yes  
Philippines  Yes  
Russian Federation  Yes  
South Africa  Yes  
Switzerland2 Yes  
Chinese Taipei  Yes  
Thailand  Yes  
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia  No 2011 last notified year.  
Tunisia  Yes  
Ukraine  Yes  
United States  Yes  
Viet Nam  Yes  
 
1.5.  After the Bali Ministerial Conference, a specific item for the follow up to the Bali Ministerial 
Decisions, subsequently including the Nairobi Ministerial Decisions, has been consistently included 
in the agenda of the Committee on Agriculture meetings. Under this agenda item the Chairperson 
has recalled that the annex of the Bali Decision on TRQ administration included the underfill 
mechanism. The Chairperson reminded Members that they may raise concerns u nder this 
mechanism both when importing Members did not notify fill rates and when the fill rate notified 
was below 65%. To date, no Member has made used of this mechanism.  
                                                
2 In all cases in this document Switzerland refers to Switzerland -Liechtenstein   
  G/AG/W/169  
 
- 3 - ANNEX I  
Table MA:2  
MARKET ACCESS: NAME OF MEMBER  
REPORTING PERIOD: CALENDAR YEAR, MARKETING YEAR, ETC…  
Lists relating to tariff and other quota commitments  
Description of products  Tariff item number(s) 
encompassed in product 
description  Tariff quota quantity for 
period in qu estion  In-quota imports during 
period  Fill rate (%)  
(from Section I -B (or I -A) of 
Part I of the Schedule)  (from Section I -B (or I -A) of 
Part I of the Schedule)  (from Section I -B (or I -A) of 
Part I of the Schedule)    
1 2 3 4 5 
((4/3)*100)  
     
     
     
 
 
 G/AG/W/169  
 
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  ANNEX II  
Questions raised in CoA meetings concerning TRQ fill rates (January 2014 - June 2017)1  
ID# CoA 
Meeting 
Number  CoA 
Meeting 
Date  Question raised by  Question answered  by Products  
84053  84 07/06/2017  Canada  European Union    
84100  84 07/06/2017  Guatemala  United States of America  Sugar, Cane or beet 
sugar, Other  
84101  84 07/06/2017  Guatemala  European Union    
83015  83 28/03/2017  European Union  Moldova, Republic of    
82063  82 09/11/2016  Switzerland  Thailand  Milk 
81026  81 14/09/2016  United States of America  China  Wheat, Corn, Rice  
81034  81 14/09/2016  European Union  Canada    
81036  81 14/09/2016  European Union  Korea, Republic of  Fruit 
81037  81 14/09/2016  European Union  Tunisia  Meat, Bovine, Swine, 
Sheep and goat, 
Poultry, Horses, 
Other, Dairy, Milk, 
Milk powders, Butter, 
Cheese, Other, Fresh 
vegetables  
81072  81 14/09/2016  Australia  Tunisia  Milk powders, Butter  
81073  81 14/09/2016  Canada  Tunisia  Bovine, Fresh 
vegetables  
81099  81 14/09/2016  Switzerland  South Africa  Butter, Cheese  
81100  81 14/09/2016  Switzerland  Tunisia  Dairy, Milk, Milk 
powders, Butter, 
Cheese, Other  
80018  80 07/06/2016  Australia  Japan  Milk powders  
80058  80 07/06/2016  European Union  Japan  Dairy, Milk, Milk 
powders, Butter, 
Cheese, Other  
80060  80 07/06/2016  European Union  Norway  Poultry  
80070  80 07/06/2016  Canada  China  Wheat  
80093  80 07/06/2016  United States of America  China  Wheat, Corn, Rice  
80099  80 07/06/2016  Thailand  Chinese Taipei  Fruit 
80100  80 07/06/2016  Thailand  Russian Federation  Poultry  
79006  79 09/03/2016  United States of America  China  Wheat, Corn, Rice  
79048  79 09/03/2016  Australia  China  Wheat, Corn  
79049  79 09/03/2016  Australia  Ukraine  Sugar, Cane or beet 
sugar, Other  
79068  79 09/03/2016  Canada  China  Wheat  
79078  79 09/03/2016  Switzerland  Costa Rica  Cheese, Other  
                                                
1 The complete questions and answers can be accessed through the Agriculture Information 
Management System at http://agims.wto.org  by using the ID numbers in the function "Search Q&A Submitted 
Since 1995". Alternatively, to obtain all records, users may do a search using the keyword "Tariff quota fill" in 
the available search criteria of the function "Search Q& A Submitted Since 1995".  G/AG/W/169  
 
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  ID# CoA 
Meeting 
Number  CoA 
Meeting 
Date  Question raised by  Question answered  by Products  
78004, 
77068  78 25/09/2015  United States of America  China  Wheat, Corn, Rice  
78043  78 25/09/2015  South Africa  European Union  Fruit, Other  
77036  77 04/06/2015  Switzerland  Canada  Milk 
77049  77 04/06/2015  European Union  Japan  Dairy, Milk, Milk 
powders, Butter, 
Cheese, Other, 
Processed 
vegetables, Nuts  
76022  76 04/03/2015  Australia  Korea, Republic of    
75034  75 13/11/2014  Canada  Venezuela, Bolivarian 
Republic of Sugar  
75015  75 13/11/2014  Australia  Venezuela, Bolivarian 
Republic of    
75012  75 13/11/2014  Australia  Thailand  Corn, Rice  
75014  75 13/11/2014  Australia  South Africa    
75010  75 13/11/2014  Australia  Philippines    
75008  75 13/11/2014  Australia  Panama    
75009  75 13/11/2014  Australia  Moldova, Republic of    
75007  75 13/11/2014  Australia  Mexico    
75006  75 13/11/2014  Australia  Japan    
75081  75 13/11/2014  Peru Iceland    
75005  75 13/11/2014  Australia  Iceland    
75003  75 13/11/2014  Australia  Chile    
74002  74 05/06/2014  Canada  China    
74003  74 05/06/2014  New Zealand  Costa Rica  Milk powders  
74004  74 05/06/2014  Canada  Russian Federation  Bovine  
74026  74 05/06/2014  European Union  Dominican Republic  Poultry, Rice  
74060  74 05/06/2014  Indonesia  Chinese Taipei  Fresh vegetables, 
Cut flowers  
73057  73 21/03/2014  European Union  Tunisia  Cheese  
72013  72 29/01/2014  Australia  European Union  Rice 
72014  72 29/01/2014  Australia  Panama  Processed 
vegetables  
72060  72 29/01/2014  Switzerland  Panama  Dairy, Milk, Milk 
powders, Butter, 
Cheese, Other  
 
 
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