G/L/116 5 
 
14 November 2016  
(16-6241) Page: 1/3 
   
 
 REPORT (2016) ON THE  ACTIVITIES OF  THE 
COMMITTEE ON AGRICUL TURE  
REPORT BY THE CHAIRP ERSON  
1.1.  The present draft report  is being circulated by the Chairperson of the Committee on 
Agriculture on his own responsibility. This report provides a summary of the activ ities of the 
Committee on Agriculture ("the Committee") during 2016.  
1.2.  The Committee held four meetings in 2016 on 9 March, 7  June, 14  September , and 
9 November.1 Mr Michael Wamai (Uganda) was the C hairperson for the March meeting of the 
Committee. The Commi ttee elected Mr Garth  Ehrhardt of Canada as the new C hairperson for 
2016-2017 at the June meeting.  
1.3.  In accordance with Article 18.1 of the Agreement on Agriculture ("the Agreement") at each of 
its meetings the Committee reviewed progress in the implementati on of Members' commitments. 
This review process is undertaken on the basis of notifications submitted by Members in the areas 
of market access, domestic support, export competition, export prohibitions and restrictions as 
well as under the follow -up to the  Marrakesh Ministerial Decision on NFIDCs. Between 1  January 
and 1 November 2016, 187 agriculture notifications of all types were circulated.  
1.4.  In 2016 Members posed 196 questions on 80  notifications during the Committee's review 
process. These questions wer e distributed as follows: 74% related to domestic support issues, 
18% to market access, and 7% to export subsidies.2 Specific concerns were also raised regarding 
the outstanding notifications that some Members had yet to submit to the Committee.  
1.5.  A wide ra nge of matters relevant to the implementation of commitments was also raised 
independently of notifications under the provisions of Article 18.6 of the Agreement. A total of 
63 implementation -related issues were raised by 15 Members during 2016.3 Out of th ese, 
51 issues were discussed for the first time in 2016. The remaining issues were discussed one or 
more times in previous years either under the review of notifications or under matters raised 
under Article 18.6. In 2016 a large number of the new issues related to the area of domestic 
support. The Secretariat circulated an overview of questions that have been raised under 
Article  18.6 since 1995.4 
1.6.  At each meeting the Committee reviewed the current status of Members' compliance with 
their notification obli gations under the Agreement. A document summarizing the current status of 
compliance with notification requirements was circulated at each Committee meeting.5 While a 
significant proportion of notifications are still outstanding (about 26%), Members have i ncreased 
their efforts to bring their notification record up to date by submitting notifications covering 
multiple reporting periods. Since 2009, the average number of years reported per notification has 
been close to three . 
                                                
1 The summary  reports of these meetings are contained in documents G/AG/R/80, G/AG/R/81,  
G/AG/R/ 82, and G/AG/R/83 (to be issued).  
2 See G/AG/ W/151, section 2 ; G/AG/W/ 154, section 2 ; G/AG/W/ 157, section 2  and G/AG/W/ 158, 
section 2 . 
3 See G/AG/W/ 151, section 1; G/AG/W/ 154, section 1 ; G/AG/W/ 157, section 1 ; and G/AG/W/ 158, 
section 1 . 
4 G/AG/GEN/ 138. 
5 G/AG/GEN/86/Rev.23 -26. G/L/1165  
 
- 2 - 
 
  1.7.  The Committee on Agriculture he ld one informal meeting during 2016, in which Members 
discussed a paper from a number of Cairns Group Members entitled "Trends in Domestic 
Support".6 The paper highlighted the trends in domestic support in respect of ten Members 
included in the document ba sed on their dominant share in global agricultural trade. Using notified 
domestic support data from these Members for the period 2006 -2010, the paper showed the 
evolution of support under various domestic support categories.  
1.8.  In the March and November meet ings, the Committee conducted its consultations under 
Article 18.5 to review the normal growth of world agricultural trade in the context of export 
subsidy commitments. A background note by the Secretariat7 showed the evolution of world 
agricultural trade in respect of a number of products or product categories which have been 
considered potentially more prone to the provision of export subsidies. To complement the 
information provided in the Secretariat paper which analyzed most commodities in volume terms , 
a group of Members circulated a paper examining those trends in terms of the value of trade.  
1.9.  With respect to the work of the Committee related specifically to NFIDCs, the WTO list of 
NFIDCs8 remained unchanged. Follow -up to the Ministerial Decision on Me asures Concerning the 
Possible Negative Effects of the Reform Programme on Least developed and Net Food -Importing 
Developing Countries (NFIDC) took place in both the March and November meetings of the 
Committee. As was normal practice, the monitoring exerc ise was undertaken on the basis of 
Table  NF:1 notifications by donor Members, contributions by Members and observer 
organizations9, as well as a background note prepared by the Secretariat.10  
1.10.   The Committee maintained a standing item on its agenda relating to implementation issues, 
both in the framework of its follow -up to the Decision by the Doha Ministerial Conference on 
Implementation -Related Issues and Concerns11, as well as in the framework of issues and 
proposals referred to it by the General Council.  
1.11.   The Committee also discussed in formal settings follow -up to the Ministerial Outcomes, 
specifically related to (i) the Understanding on Tariff Rate Quota Administration Provisions of 
Agricultural Products, as defined in Article 2 of the Agreement on Agricu lture; (ii) the Bali 
Ministerial Decision on Public Stockholding for Food Security Purposes, and (iii) the Nairobi 
Ministerial Decision on Export Competition. No information was provided by Members in the 
context of the monitoring foreseen under the Bali D ecisions on Public Stockholding for Food 
Security purposes and TRQ administration during the 2016 meetings of the Committee. Members 
exchanged views on the implementation of the Nairobi Decision on Export Competition and 
Members with scheduled export subsi dy reduction commitments provided regular updates on the 
steps taken to implement the Decision.  
1.12.   With respect to the Nairobi Decision on Export Competition, the first dedicated discussion on 
export competition held after the Nairobi Ministerial, occurred du ring the June 2016 meeting. The 
discussions were held on the basis of the Secretariat's background document. Following the 
meeting, a revised Secretariat's background document compiling all the information received by 
the Secretariat was circulated on 26 J uly 201612 concluding this examination process. During the 
Committee meeting Members exchanged questions and responses on specific measures in relation 
to the implementation of the Nairobi Decision.13 The Cairns Group submitted a paper14 which 
supplemented th e Secretariat's background document and drew some key conclusions from the 
analysis.  
1.13.   In the Nairobi Decision on Export Competition Members had also agreed to review the 
provisions on international food aid within the Committee on Agriculture monitoring of  the 
                                                
6 G/AG/W/150.  
7 G/AG/W/ 32/Rev.15 and G/AG/W/32/Rev.15 /Corr.1 . 
8 G/AG/5/Rev.10.  
9 G/AG/GEN/136 (submission by the Inter -American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture ) and 
G/AG/GEN/137 (submission by the International Grain Council)  
10 In the G/AG/W/42/ series . 
11 WT/MIN(01)/17,  para. 2.  
12 G/AG/W/125/Rev.5, G/AG/W/125/Rev.5/Add.1, G/AG/W/125/Rev.5/Add.2, 
G/AG/W/125/Rev.5/Add.3, G/AG/W/125/Rev.5/Add.4.  
13 G/AG/W/155.  
14 G/AG/W/144 , 29 May 2015.  G/L/1165  
 
- 3 - 
 
  implementation of the Marrakesh Ministerial Decision of April 1994 on Measures Concerning the 
Possible Negative Effects of the Reform Programme on Least -developed and net food -importing 
developing countries. Members shared views on how the Committee s hould conduct this review  
during t he Committee's monitoring of the NFIDC Decision in November . 
1.14.   In September the Committee held an information session on enhancing transparency and 
the CoA review process. The session included a presentation on online source s of information 
useful for the work of the CoA and Members sharing of experiences with respect to the preparation 
and submission of notifications and the implementation of the review process of the Agreement on 
Agriculture. The information session produce d a number of recommendations including organizing 
additional events to promote exchanges among delegates; and enhancing the use of available data 
in the WTO by, among other things, exploring options for presenting summarized notified 
information and synth esis of issues raised in the CoA review process (see G/AG/GEN/ 138). The 
Secretariat held an additional information session i n the margins of the November CoA meeting to 
present to Members the upcoming system for online submission of agriculture notificatio ns.  
1.15.   The WTO's Agriculture and Commodities Division delivered the seventh Geneva -based 
workshop on agriculture notifications on 12 -15 July 2016. It was organized in collaboration with 
the Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation with the purpose of  facilitating the preparation 
and review of agriculture notifications. A total of 25 participants from developing country capitals 
were funded by the WTO, and six participants came on a self -funded basis. The workshop included 
practical exercises related t o the review process of the Committee on Agriculture hands -on training 
on the Agriculture Information Management System (AG -IMS. As in previous activities, the last 
day of the 2016 workshop was devoted to individual sessions with AGCD staff, offering parti cipants 
the opportunity to consult on unfulfilled notification obligations. In addition to the notification 
workshop, the Secretariat conducted four national seminars that included the Agreement on 
Agriculture and agriculture notifications in Chad, Guinea,  Montenegro and Tunisia.  
1.16.   The following international intergovernmental organizations have regular observer status in 
the Committee: Food and Agriculture Organization, International Monetary Fund, the International 
Grains Council, OECD, UNCTAD, World Food P rogramme, and the World Bank. Ad hoc observer 
status for the Inter -American Institute for Agricultural Cooperation (IICA) was renewed in 
November. No consensus has been reached as regards requests for observer status by eleven 
other international organizat ions. 
1.17.   The Committee agreed to hold regular meetings on 7 -8 March, 7 -8 June, and 17 -18 October 
in 2017.  
 
__________