G/AG/W/171  
 
9 February 2018  
(18-0894) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Agriculture    
 
PROPOSED PROCESS FOR  THE REVIEW OF THE OPERAT ION  
OF THE BALI DECISION ON TRQ ADMINISTRATION  
NOTE BY THE SECRETAR IAT1 
At the Ninth  Session of the Ministerial Conference, Ministers adopted a decision on "Understanding 
of Tariff Rate Quota Administration Provisions of Agricultural Products, as defined in Article 2 of the 
Agreement on Agriculture" (WT/MIN(13)/39). In this Decision the Ministers instructed the 
Committee to review the op eration of this Decision, commencing no later than 2017, taking into 
account experience gained up to that time .2 In order to facilitate an efficient review process, the 
Secretariat, in consultation with the Chairperson, is proposing that the Committee agre e to the 
following procedure. The Committee will be invited to agree on this procedure at its formal 
meeting of February 2018.  
 
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1.  The Review will initially be conducted through open -ended informal meetings of the Committee. 
The informal mee tings will normally be scheduled back -to-back with the regular meetings of the 
Committee. Interpretation will be provided at the informal meetings. If necessary, further informal 
and special meetings of the Committee may be scheduled.  
2.  Members will be invit ed to identify issues for discussion as part of the Review, and 
subsequen tly to submit papers .  
3.  An item relating to the Review of the Bali TRQ Decision will be included in the agenda of each 
regular meeting of the Committee during the Review period, under which the Chairperson will 
provide an oral report on the informal Review process. On the basis of this report, the CoA will 
consider what further action may be appropriate.  
4.  The Secretariat has prepared a background document, " Monitoring and review of M embe rs' 
obligations established under the Bali Decision on TRQ administration "(G/AG/W/169). This 
document will be revised, as necessary, to also include background information on any specific 
issues proposed for consideration, and may serve as the basis for th e Committee's report to the 
General Council.  
5.  The Review process will be conducted on the basis of the following timeline, recognizing that 
some of the dates may need to be modified in light of other activities and resource constraints.  
                                                
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.  
2 Understanding of Tariff Rate Quota Administration Provisions of Agricultural  Products, as defined in 
Article 2 of the Agreement on Agriculture, WT/MIN(13)/39, para 13 . G/AG/W/171  
 
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  Dates  Meeting  Action  
February 2018  Informal CoA  
 
 
Formal  CoA Consideration by the Committee of the procedure for the 
Review, i nitial identification and discussion by Members 
of issues they wish to be considered during the Review . 
Possible adoption  of the procedure for the Review  
 
April 2018   Written submission by Members of the issues they wish 
to be considered during the Review . 
June 2018  Informal and 
formal CoA  Discussion of issues, identification of any additional 
background needed . 
July 2018   Secretariat updates background document , as 
necessary . 
September 2018  Informal and 
formal CoA  Updated background document discussion . 
October 2018   Members submissions – Issues for consideration  
November 2018  Informal and 
formal CoA  Discussion of issues raised . 
December 2018   Circulation  by the Secretariat of the first draft  of the 
report of the Review.  
31 January 2018   Members submit written comments . 
March 2019  Informal CoA  Discussion of issues raised . 
May 2019   Secretariat circulation of revised draft . 
June 2019  Informal CoA  
 
Formal CoA  Consideration and, if possible, finalization of the report 
of the Review . 
Adoption of the report on the Review . 
 
 
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