WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/AG/GEN/105 
8 November 2012 
 (12-6148) 
Committee on Agriculture Original: Spanish 
  
 
IICA IN THE WTO COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE WORK PLAN III: 
NOVEMBER 2012 TO DECEMBER 2013 
 
Submission by IICA 
 
 
 The following submission, dated 6 November 2012, is being circulated at the request of the 
Inter-American Institute for C ooperation on Agriculture (IICA). 
 
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I. BACKGROUND 
1. In October 2009, the Director-General of IICA submitted a request to the Chair of the 
WTO Committee on Agriculture, seeking observer stat us for the Institute.  The WTO Membership 
examined the request in March 2010 and the Commi ttee on Agriculture granted IICA ad hoc observer 
status in its regular meetings. 
2. As part of the work carried out jointly by IICA and the WTO, on 21 June 2012, 
a WTO Regional Reference Centre was opened at IICA.  Here, public and private sector officials and academics can access reference and training materials w ith a view to enhancing the participation of 
the countries of the Americas in trade negotiatio ns and in the making of decisions regarding 
agriculture and international trade. 
3. Accordingly, IICA submitted two joint Work Pl ans between 2010 and 2012:  the first of these 
at the Committee on Agriculture's regular meeting held in September 2010, and the second at the meeting of 17 November 2011. 
4. In order to ensure the continuity of IICA's comm itment, a third Work Plan has been drafted.  
This plan is to be submitted at the fo rthcoming regular meeting of the Committee 
on 14 November 2012 for circulation to WTO Members. 
II. ACTIVITIES TO BE DEVELOPED IN RELATION TO THE WORK OF THE 
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE 
5. The following activities are under consideration: 
(a) Coordinated identification with the WTO Secretariat of possible areas of cooperation 
to be envisaged in the Work Plan for 2013.  For example: 
(i) Notification of agricultural policies:  The Committee has noted that its work 
is hampered by delays in the submission of agricultural policy-related notifications in accordance with the requirements and formats adopted in 1995 by WTO Members (G/AG/2).  The Secretariat has accordingly G/AG/GEN/105 
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  drafted a Handbook on agriculture notifi cation requirements.  This Handbook 
will be circulated in the course of training activities.  In view of the success of the Regional Workshop on Agriculture Notifications held on 13 and 14 April 2011 and the Regional Workshop on Agriculture and Agricultural Negotiations held on 3-5 July 2012, both at 
the IICA Headquarters in San José, Cost a Rica, IICA will continue to provide 
support for these initiatives, mainly in  Latin America and the Caribbean. 
(ii) Joint studies:  The Committee on Agricultu re has an ongoing need to produce 
technical documents that could be dr afted or coordinated by IICA where 
these relate to IICA's geographical sphere (Latin America and the Caribbean).  
IICA has experience in preparing this kind of document and could assist 
the WTO Secretariat in developing activities of this nature at the Committee's request. 
(b) Participation and attendance at meetings  of the Committee on Agriculture.  IICA, 
as an observer member of this Committee, undertakes to continue attending the 
regular meetings held at the WTO. 
(c) Use of the WTO as a showcase for IICA's work:  IICA could utilize the 
WTO's international coverage as a way of  making products of special interest to 
its Members better known, such as the IICA/FAO/ECLAC joint report on the outlook for agriculture, which is publishe d each year by these institutions. 
(d) Carrying on with the preparation of the paper on IICA's contribution to the 
Marrakesh Decision and Food Security for the regular meetings of the Committee 
in November.  In 2010 and 2011, IICA pr epared submissions on this subject 
(G/AG/GEN/93 and G/AG/GEN/97, respectively). 
6. Development of the following ac tivities is under consideration: 
(a) Participation of the IICA Director-General in the WTO public forum held in 
September each year. 
(b) IICA will support the WTO in its technical cooperation activities directed at 
ministries of agriculture, at both hemispheric (Inter-American Board of Agriculture) and subregional level (Southern Agricultura l Council;  Central American Agricultural 
Council;  Caribbean Alliance;  other ministerial bodies). 
(c) Post-Doha Round training:  Once the text on agricultural modalities has been 
worked out, Members will be seeking training or guidance in preparing their 
schedules of commitments.  The schedul es will be drawn up on the basis of the 
technical parameters established in the doc ument.  IICA is following the Doha Round 
negotiations on Agriculture and from the technical standpoint is ready to provide Members with such technical training or guidance.  Considering the potentially 
extensive demand for technical guidance, and should the WTO Secretariat require 
extra technical staff for the purpose, IICA c ould provide support for this activity in its 
geographical sphere (mainl y Latin America and the Caribbean) when appropriate.  G/AG/GEN/105 
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  III. THE AGRICULTURAL TRADE NEGOTIAT IONS WITHIN THE INSTITUTE 
7. IICA's Centre for Strategic Analysis for Ag riculture (CAESPA) will be responsible for 
relations between IICA and the WTO Secretariat and will be the unit in charge of implementing this 
Work Plan.  Implementation of the plan forms part  of the CAESPA's functions, which are to follow 
up on implementation-related issues concerning th e Agreement on Agriculture and progress in the 
negotiations, and to build up capacity in administer ing agreements that emerge from the Doha Round. 
8. IICA is represented in 34 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean and has an 
experienced network of experts in agriculture, inte rnational trade and trade negotiations, strategically 
located both in country offices and at Central Head quarters, through whom the technical cooperation 
activities set out in the Work Plan will be implemented. 
9. For further information, please contact: 
Rafael Trejos Solórzano 
Manager of CAESPA Tel.: (+506) 2216-0218 E-mail: rafael.trejos@iica.int  
 
Adriana Campos Azofeifa Trade Policy and Negotiations Specialist and Coordinator of the WTO Regional Reference 
Centre at IICA Tel.: (+506) 2216-0170 E-mail: adriana.campos@iica.int 
 
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