JOB/AG/67  
 
15 March 2016  
(16-1516) Page: 1/6 
Committee on Agriculture  
Special Session    
 
 COMMITTEE ON AGRICUL TURE IN SPECIAL SESS ION:  
INFORMAL MEETING, 8 MARCH  2016 
REPORT BY THE CHAIR  
Introduction  
1.   Welcome to this, our first meeting of the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session (CoA  SS) 
in our post -Nairobi MC10 Geneva process.  
2.   I see this  meeting as having three inter -related objectives. It is an opportunity for:  
1) me to report back to you on what I have heard so far from the consultations I have 
been engaged in since mid -January this year;  
2) you to listen to one another about your respective  priorities an d perspectives on the 
way ahead,  and  
3) me, as Chair, to listen to you all.   
3.   In short, this meeting is about transparency. Against that background, and as is customary, I 
will now provide my report on my consultations to date, with reference t o: context , process , and 
substance .  
4.   Let me preface this, however, with some brief expressions of appreciation to those involved in 
our negotiations in Nairobi.  
Nairobi: MC10  
5.   At the outset, let us acknowledge that we all owe one another a debt of gratitud e for the 
outcome secured in Nairobi. In a Member -driven organi zation like ours, it is entirely appropriate 
that the plaudits should be shared first and foremost among Members generally and our Ministers 
in particular.  
6.   Ours was an intensive and intense pr ocess. I have established with the Secretariat that since I 
was elected to this position in early September last year through to the Nairobi Ministerial 
meeting, I chaired 45 meetings – in various configurations counting only those involving more 
than 25 Members. These meetings were supplemented by 392 bilateral consultations. As I said, 
intense and intensive.  
7.   I do want to also pay a particular tribute to the WTO Secretariat in general for its work both 
before and at Nairobi. In particular, let me acknowle dge the leadership of Evan Rogerson and his 
CoA SS team of  Cedric Pene, Lee  Ann Jackson, Marieme Fall, Ulla Kask , Diwakar Dixit and 
Helen  Favez. Additionally, I want to thank the WTO Legal Division , including , in particular , 
Janos  Volkai , who worked so clo sely with us in Nairobi. The assistance provided to Members by 
Deputy Director -General, Dave Shark and of course the Director -General and his team, in 
particular Tatiana Prazeres should also be underscored here. Their collective contribution made a 
differe nce. I should also record too the significant contribution my predecessor, John Adank , made 
in laying the foundations for the outcome in Nairobi.  JOB/AG/67  
 
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  8.   Let us also thank our hosts in Nairobi – not least Minister Amina. Kenya' s team in Geneva as 
well as in Nairo bi played a central role in our negotiations  – this included exquisitely timed 
political -level engagement at key moments. Let me also pay a tribute to Minister Joshua Setipa of 
Lesotho who was an active, focused and tireless facilitator of our negotiations  in Nairobi.  
9.   Taken together, we did, despite everything, manage to reach our thalassa thalassa  moment – 
at least for export competition. We should also note the important Ministerial Decision on Cotton 
which, as sought by the C4 and others, covers the thr ee pillars of our negotiations, though clearly 
there is unfinished business in some areas , something to which I will return shortly. I know many 
Members were also pleased with the separate Ministerial Decisions on the Special Safeguard 
Mechanism and Public  Stockholding.  
10.   Together with you , Members, and the Secretariat , we were, as we say in New  Zealand, a hell 
of a team. Put simply, you did something that mattered. Let us take a moment to collectively 
congratulate one another on that.  
11.   Finally, let me just remind Members that the implementation of the Nairobi Ministerial 
Decision on Export Competition will be monitored by the regular Committee on Agriculture and 
that work will commence shortly. Now let us turn to the future.  
Context  
12.   Our continuing negotiatio ns are informed by what I have understood from my consultations 
regarding our shared objectives for this negotiation and taken together these provide the specific 
contextual basis for our continuing engagement.   
13.   For transparency, let me record that my rep ort back to you today is based on 72 bilateral 
consultations undertaken since early January. These were supplemented by a meeting with Group 
Coordinators. I do not pretend this is necessarily a representative sample but it has , I believe , 
given me a set of  compass points from which to commence the navigation of our way forward.  
14.   What I am hearing from you generally with regard to the objectives for our continuing 
negotiation is a widespread sense that we should be trying to achieve further progress includin g, in 
no particular order, to:  
1) see what is possible by way of an outcome in agriculture for MC11, though I am not 
hearing much precision at this point from you about what this might mean, including 
what you are thinking about for the contours and content o f such an outcome;  
2) deliver to Ministerial expectations as set out in the various relevant Nairobi Ministerial 
Decisions, the Ministerial Declaration, as well as Article 20 of the Agreement on 
Agriculture , and 
3) avoid as far as possible polari zing debates her e in CoA  SS that could result in 
paralysis, not simply in agriculture but more generally.   
15.   Let me now turn to the process aspects of our work . 
Process  
16.   First, with regards to Cotton, Members agreed in Nairobi to continue the transparency and 
monitoring pro cess put in place following the Bali Ministerial Decision.  
17.   I therefore intend to continue holding bi -annual Dedicated Discussions in the context of the 
Committee on Agriculture in Special Session. The next such dedicated discussion of the relevant 
trade -related developments for cotton  is scheduled for 1 July.  
18.   While the dedicated discussions provide useful context to our work here on cotton, they are 
not a substitute for actual negotiations on cotton -related issues. The sense I have had from my 
consultatio ns is that there is an expectation that we will resume negotiations on cotton in the 
CoA SS and that these will need to be advanced in the context of the general negotiations where JOB/AG/67  
 
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  relevant. I have consulted and will be consulting intensively with the C4 a nd other partners on the 
way forward on this set of issues.  
19.   Second, and with regard to the wider agriculture negotiations, following this meeting, I will 
intensify my consultations with all Members.  Specifically, I will be continuing my bilateral 
consultat ions, but I will also be seeking an opportunity to meet with all the relevant groups 
separately to hear what Members have to say within their respective groups on the issues before 
us. 
20.   Based on those consultations I will consider how best to structure our engagement and will 
then announce dates for meetings in this format.   
Substance  
21.   With regard to substance,  I asked all of those with whom I met, including Group 
Coordinators , what issues should in their view form the basis of our continuing negotiations. T he 
following represents my attempt to distil the range of views expressed. There were six areas 
identified through my consultations and I enumerate them below in no particular order – let me 
emphasise that – no particular order.  
22.   First,  it is clear that the  Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM) and Public S tockholding (PSH) 
remain high priorities for some Members.   
23.   I need to also report, however, that it is also equally clear that other Members ' positions on 
these two issues have not changed since our Ministers met in Nairobi.  
24.   With regard to the SSM in particular, the guidance provided by Ministers is well understood. 
Some Members reminded me that "developing country Members will have the right to have 
recourse" to this mechanism " as envisaged under paragraph 7 of the Hong Kong Ministerial 
Declaration ". These Members also drew my attention to the fact that negotiations on this will occur 
through "dedicated sessions " of the CoA  SS. Other Members have also reminded me that these 
negotiations will need to occur "in the context of addressing outstanding agricultural issues ". These 
are all phrases contained in the Ministerial Decision on SSM and they will of course shape the way 
we look collectively to structure the negotiations  
25.   With regard to PSH, some Members believe  that an outcome can be delivered before MC11. 
Other Members do not necessarily share that view. For my part, let me simply recall for the record 
that Ministers confirmed that the negotiations on PSH "shall be held in the CoA  SS in dedicated 
sessions "; in an "accelerated time-frame" ; and on a separate track "distinct from the agriculture 
negotiations under the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) ".  
26.   On both issues – the SSM and PSH – and based on my consultations to date, there remains a 
lack of clarity from Membe rs about what an eventual outcome might look like. This is clearly 
something you will need to work together on over the coming months.  
27.   In this regard, I strongly recommend that all Members read very carefully the texts of all of 
the Nairobi Decisions that  relate to agriculture. The words used in those texts were deliberately 
chosen by Ministers to reflect their perspectives and, as I noted earlier, these will collectively 
shape and inform the way forward.  
28.   Let me just report too that I have been clear in m y consultations on both issues, as I am 
today. I take a very straightforward view on this. This is that Ministers have instructed 
negotiations on these two issues very specifically and have provided particular guidance on how 
we should proceed. As Chair, i t is my task to facilitate that process and I will do so in line with 
those Ministerial Decisions.  
29.   Second,  negotiations on domestic support  have emerged as the clear priority for the 
overwhelming bulk of those I have consulted with. In fact, domestic supp ort has been identified by 
many of you quite explicitly as a key potential outcome for MC11. In this regard, Members have 
reminded me of the WTO 's comparative advantage in this area as compared with Preferential 
Trade Agreements.   JOB/AG/67  
 
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  30.   I should also record tha t many Members expressed their very real disappointment about the 
absence of an outcome in domestic support at Nairobi in general and in cotton in particular. On 
cotton, my attention was drawn on several occasions during my consultations to the language 
used by Ministers in their Decision on Cotton. Specifically, paragraph 8 reminds us about "efforts 
that remain to be made" with regard to trade -distorting domestic subsidies for cotton production. 
Indeed, a considerable number of Members have made it clear t o me that they want to take this 
issue up again.  
31.   In sum, it is clear to me that domestic support, including for cotton , is an issue on which 
there is general agreement that we need to explore what may be possible. That said, based on 
what I have heard , it is clear that this will take some time and that we need to take due care in 
how we proceed on this matter.   
32.   I should also note that no Member had any specific ideas for how to proceed on domestic 
support at this early point, but I expect this to be the fo cus of my consultations in the coming 
weeks.  
33.   Third,  negotiations on market access  remain a priority for a large group of Members and an 
issue worth discussing for the remainder of those with whom I have consulted.  
34.   Some Members have advised me that progre ss on market access and domestic support will 
need to be contingent on movement elsewhere, including outside of the agriculture negotiation.  
35.   Other Members have raised very specific issues of interest to them in the pillar of market 
access ranging from Trop ical Products to Special Products – a wide range indeed. I have 
encouraged Members to continue consulting bilaterally to see where this can take us.  
36.   Fourth , with regard to export competition, let me remind you as I said earlier , that the 
implementation of  the Nairobi Ministerial Decision on Export Competition is a matter for the 
regular Committee on Agriculture.  
37.   Based on my consultations to date, further negotiations on export competition  were a low 
priority for most Members. In fact, many Members made it clear to me that they have limited or 
no interest in re -engaging on export competition, given their assessment that the negotiations in 
Nairobi went as far as was possible.  
38.   Conversely, a small group of Members specifically identified  export credits as an issue of 
"unfinished business ". 
39.   For my part, I again take a straightforward approach to this. Paragraph 31 of the Nairobi 
Ministerial Declaration explicitly includes export competition as a subject for ongoing negotiation. 
It is up to Members therefore to map out what their Ministers had in mind for this process, but my 
role as Chair is clear – I will facilitate this for the Membership, as required.  
40.   Fifth,  as part of the wider Article 20 agricultural reform process, several Members observed 
that it was imp ortant for us to continue negotiating across all pillars of agriculture. This is because 
there is value in the negotiating process in terms of domestic policy reform. Specifically, our 
negotiations have an important signalling effect that can help drive, s hape and inform domestic 
agricultural reform. I strongly share that perspective and believe that this is what the Agreement 
on Agriculture is intended to do, i.e. to have a dynamic policy effect over time.  
41.   Finally,  a minority of Members has raised with me  what might be termed "other issues ", 
some of which it is possible to argue could be undertaken through the mandate provided by the 
Article 20 reform process. Issues raised in this regard include: export restrictions; SPS; private 
standards for agricultura l products , and disciplines on subsidies for biofuels and bio -energy.  
42.   In terms of the way ahead on the substance, I have encouraged Members – and will continue 
to encourage them over the coming weeks and months – to reflect on these priorities. Where 
possible and when they are ready , I have asked them to consider preparing information -focused 
submissions that can identify in a crisp and clear manner what the issue is. With improved and as JOB/AG/67  
 
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  up-to-date as possible information in front of us as negotiators, it  is my expectation that we can 
carefully continue to frame and advance our process.   
Conclusion  
43.   I have listened carefully to the range of views expressed and I welcome the fact that the 
results of my bilateral consultations are broadly reflected in our di scussion. Please be assured that 
both I and the Secretariat have taken very careful note of your remarks and suggestions.  
44.   Let me say at the outset two specific things. First, it is clear that agriculture still matters to 
Members in the context of both tra de and development. Second, many of you have observed that 
progress in agriculture cannot happen in isolation from the wider negotiations. We need to work 
together therefore to support and sustain such negotiations – and for my part I am a firm believe r 
that this is crucial to progress in this Committee.  
45.   My approach therefore will continue to be informed and framed by this and the three inter -
related understandings I outlined earlier and which I am pleased to record continue to be shared 
by all of you. This  is that we need to:  
1) see what is possible by way of an outcome in agriculture for MC11, even if we are 
some way still away from identifying the precise contours and content of any 
outcomes. I encourage you to reflect on and consult with one another over th e coming 
months;  
2) deliver to Ministerial expectations as set out in the various relevant Nairobi Ministerial 
Decisions – a point several of you have reinforced; the Ministerial Declaration 
generally, not least paragraph 31, as well as Article 20 of the Agre ement on 
Agriculture,  and 
3) work together to limit the risk as far as possible of polari zing debates that could result 
in paralysis, not simply in CoA  SS, but more generally. I particularly welcome this 
clear signal from you about the willingness that is wid ely shared to be constructive 
and respectful in our continuing negotiations.  
 
46.   Having contextualiz ed the process going forward, let me now turn specifically to next steps 
in the context of our discussion today. In this regard our forward process  will be inf ormed by my 
next round of consultations. I will not take any immediate decisions on meetings, neither in terms 
of timing, form or content. Rather, I will be seeking your views and guidance on this. Once I have 
some clarity on Members ' thinking, including e ngagement with groups, I will then take a decision 
on two specific matters:  
1) the timing for our next meetings , and  
2) the issues we will canvass . 
 
47.   Obviously, the specific Ministerial Decisions will inform my thinking given the priority 
Ministers placed on th ose. 
48.   In terms of substance  it is clear too that the six areas I identified at the outset enjoy in 
broad terms your shared understanding as the set of issues we need to be thinking about and 
consulting one another on.  
49.   Let me also say that, given the sensit ivities we are all aware of and many of you have 
touched on, I intend to proceed with all due caution and care. In particular, my intention is for us 
collectively to engage in a process of what I term "defining by doing " – at least for the immediate 
future .  
50.   Defining by doing requires rich information and data to inform and shape our negotiating 
process. To this end , I look to you Members to generate such material, or any other material which 
you think can help us take our collective work forward.  JOB/AG/67  
 
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  51.   For my p art, let me assure colleagues that I will continue to be inclusive, fair, flexible and 
transparent in my consultations and engagement. I will seek to report back to you in this format 
on what I am hearing and what I deduce from this.  
52.   To this end, my aim w ill be to work together with you all carefully, respectfully and 
sensitively, while at the same time being clear that Ministers have asked us to advance the 
negotiations in agriculture in very specific ways. In the end, we are here to implement their 
instructions and my role as Chair is simply to facilitate your negotiations on those matters.  
53.   In the meantime, I encourage all Members to undertake their own consultations among 
themselves and I would welcome any feedback on those as well.  
54.   And finally, any Mem ber that wishes to see me at any point can of course do so. I am at your 
service. Please make contact with me directly or through my office or indeed the Secretariat as 
necessary.  
55.   In sum, I look very much forward to working with you all to define by doing  our way forward 
to our next thalassa thalassa  moment.  
__________