JOB/AG/136  
 
29 May 2018  
(18-3177) Page: 1/5 
Committee on Agriculture  
Special Session    
 
REPORT BY AMB. J. R. D. (DEEP)  FORD TO THE   
COMMITTEE ON AGRICUL TURE IN SPECIAL SESS ION 
24 MAY 2018  
INTRODUCTION  
1.  I would like to welcome delegations to this first informal open -ended meeting of the Committee 
on Agriculture in Spe cial Session , the first meeting  since MC11 and of course the first  meeting 
since my formal election as Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session (CoA-SS) 
on 9 April 2018, six weeks ago.  
2.  This meeting continues the already long history of the WTO agricultural nego tiations and I am 
confident that we will be able to work intensively and collectively to make progress in the 
negotiations despite the recognition of some clouds that hang over the negotiating environment in 
general.  
3.  As indicated at the informal TNC and He ads of Delegations meeting held on 7 May, my 
considered view is that all and I mean all Members recognize the central role of agriculture and are 
fully engaged.   
4.  All Members are committed to agriculture reform that will strengthen WTO disciplines 
promoting  a more open rules -based system governing this sector and to working to achieve results 
that would accommoda te the interests of all Members . In other words,  all Members are committed 
to making progress.   
5.  Our meeting today will be divided in two main parts.  
6.  First, I will report to you on the consultations I have held since my appointment. In the second 
part of our meeting, I will hand over the floor to you to express your collective guidance  on the 
way forward and/or to report to the whole Membership on any development or initiatives  relevant 
to our negotiations.  
7.  After your interventions, I will conclude by offering some more thoughts on the way forward.  
8.  I am fully aware that some topics covered within the CoA Special Session are considered in 
dedicated sett ings. In this first CoA Special Session meeting, my intention is to largely focus  on 
how we work  to achieve  our goals and not to engage in a topic by topic discussion. I will therefore 
invite Members to offer their feedback on the entire agriculture negoti ating issues, including your 
ideas to facilitate my own final conclusions today on how we program and schedule the work on 
agriculture in the coming months and beyond.  
9.  I would like to turn to my report on my bilateral  consultations  with you . My remarks are an 
expansion of my statement to the Heads of Delegations meeting on 7 May. What is important 
today is that you will have the opportunity to react to the findings that resulted from these first 
consultations.  
10.  Let me give you the storyline upfront, let me cut to the chase: There are no surprises today, 
only challenges – the challenge to engage differently, the challenge to use time differently, the 
challenge to achieve outcomes differently. This might be summarized as the Geneva WTO JOB/AG/136  
 
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  Ambassador s challenge – I hope in my remarks to concretize these challenges based on what I 
have heard from you.  
11.  Let me restate: The challenge is that  we not work only towards December 2019 at which point  
we declare that it cannot be done . Instead l et us be spurred on by possible achievements along 
the way.  Let us set our own preliminary and incremental outcome achievement points, signposts . 
To clarify, I repeat , signposts not deadlines , signposts  that guide us so that we know  in fact how  
we are doing and how we are going to get where we want to arrive, before and at the next well 
recognized endpoint in December 2019.  
REPORT ON CONSULTATI ONS 
12.  All together I have held 32 meetings with Members and group coordinators . These 
consultations were based around  six questions I had circulated to Members , primarily  to frame  but 
not limit  our discussions .   
Question 1 - Lessons learnt from pre -MC11 process and in Buenos Aires  
13.  The main findings were: 
14.  The need for the nature of engagement to be changed  in a number of ways  – we need more 
focused, agenda -based negotiations, as well as more dialogue among Members in a spirit  of 
compromise and flexibility.  
15.  The need to ensure increased inclusiveness  and transparency.  
16.  A greater commitment to more active participation and Members  working collectively and 
intensively together, importantly with what is described in this house as all the majors.  
17.  The need for more realistic expectations and requests or demands.  
18.  That both political and technical work is needed throughout the process , not only at the end of 
the process.  
19.  It was further suggested that an incremental approach has a better chance of enabling 
Members to achieve a substantive outcome in the negotiations.  
20.  The view was expressed that there was not enough focus on the broad obje ctives of the 
negotiations. That trade rules are needed for social and economic development of countries. Thus, 
agriculture negotiations should be seen as urgent for achieving the UN Sustainable Development 
Goals  as well , particularly SDG 2b an d 2c and SDG  17.10 and 17.11. If progress is not made in 
agriculture negotiations some very critical important SDG's will not be met in the time -period set. 
The two go hand in hand . 
Question 2  - Timelines  
21.  The main findings here are:  
22.  While Members in general recognized the need for some reflection before the commencement 
of negotiations, they felt that the reflection period should not be too long nor should it delay the 
negotiations. A view that was mentioned repeatedly was  that "Time ran out at MC11, and this 
should not  happen again".  
23.  There was also a call for an immediate resumption of negotiations on some or all topics.  
24.  Some Members also pointe d out that while deadline s may be important the y have not always 
served us  well. They can l ead to a start of negotiations too late and they can sometimes end 
negotiations prematurely. Thus, some Members warned against setting artific ial or impractica ble 
deadlines.  JOB/AG/136  
 
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  25.  It was also considered that we should work towards achieving consensus already in Geneva, 
before the next Ministerial Conference.  
26.  Regarding  CoA-SS meetings, the suggestions by Members varied from holding one meeting 
per month to holding meetings as and when Members table new submissions. Some Members 
cautioned against holding meetings without any clear justification  for them . The view was also 
expressed that topic -specific meetings could be held.  
27.  Your further feedback today on timelines and content and frequency of me etings will be useful 
for my continued  guidance.  
Question 3 - Work und ertaken before MC11  
28.  The main findings here we re: 
29.  For many Members, the importance of previous work and past decisions should be honoured. 
Therefore, it was suggested that there is the ne ed to find a way to build on what has gone before, 
the efforts, the ou tcomes, the decisions, so as not to commence and repeat the same negotiations 
all over again.  
30.  Secondly, on past work it was suggested if  proponents wished their past proposals  to be 
addressed in the post MC11 negotiations they need to bring those issues a nd those approaches 
back to the table.  
31.  Another view was that past proposals still have merit as they were not sufficiently discussed 
and considered before MC11, while some thought past proposals did not break the impasse and 
should only come back if they are updated or modified and have a chance of in fact helping us to 
get through what is a difficult and apparently still closed passage.  
32.  Your further guidance on how this past work is taken into consideration and handled is also 
welcome.    
Question 4 - Priorities  
33.  Priorities remained broadly the same as they were before MC11.  
34.  Most Members saw Domestic Support (DS) as the highest priority issue . Many saw AMS as the 
main area to focus on. Some insisted that all Members needed to contribute therefore, AMS and 
de minimis needed to be considered together. How to proceed on DS – ambitious versus 
incremental steps was one way this was framed. Another  way was move on a few areas 
simultaneously but not all areas. All Members  should contribute – versus those who already  
contributed and might be less expected.   
35.  PSH and SSM  remain high on the agenda, notably for the proponents  of these issues.  
36.  Export Competition was considered to be "unfinished business" by some in the areas of export 
finance and STEs.  
37.  Export Restrictions  was seen as a priority by several net food importing Members; however, 
reservations were also expressed about discussing this issue.  
38.  Some expressed their wish to see Market Access taken forward , either on its own or in parallel 
to Domestic Support. Linkag es between issues were considered unhelpful by some, while others 
thought it was unavoidable or even necessary for progress to be made.  
39.  Cotton was identified as a high priority by the C4 and several other delegations, with some 
suggesting that an incremen tal output may be feasible in this area.  
40.  At this point, let me also note and report to you that DDG Wolff and I held a Quad plus 
meeting yesterday to prepare for the next cotton day, scheduled for 19 June and took the JOB/AG/136  
 
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  opportunity of that meeting to also ha ve a first exchange of views on the possible next steps in the 
negotiations on cotton.  
41.  During that meeting, participants acknowledged the importance of the cotton issue and 
indicated their preparedness to work intensively and collectively on it. There was broad 
agreement , maybe not complete,  on the need for updated in formation and data to inform those  
negotiations . 
42.  Finally, in terms of priorities, there is S&D. While S&D is considered central to any outcome by 
many developing country Members, some felt that  S&D should reflect the new conditions of 
international trade and/or should be properly justified. The need to strike a balance between the 
interests of net food importers and net food exporters was also mentioned as important in this 
regard.  
43.  Here again, y our reactions and further guidance on priorities will be  welcomed.    
Question 5 - Increased information development and information sharing  
44.  The main findings here were:  
45.  Information based on s ound analytical work could facilitate fact -based discussions. This was  
considered important to create the conditions for informed discussions . In this regard , timely 
notifications and shared understandings on the broad ob jectives of the negotiations were  seen as 
an essential requirement to further meaningful and prod uctive engagement in the negotiating 
process.  
46.  Many Members expressed the view that work aimed at improving information available sh ould 
be addressed in parallel and  aid to the negotiations and shoul d not be a substitute , or delay  them. 
This can be stated another way – increased in formation and increased negotiations should go hand 
in hand.  
47.  While holding workshops was found to be useful by many Members, some highlighted the 
need for their transparent organiz ation. Members also suggested different topics to be covered, 
ranging from "issues of importance to developing country Members " to "real challenges ". 
48.  Members seemed to be generally open to using documents and information prepared by 
international organi zations, multilateral organizations, including the FA O, IFPRI and other s; some 
however felt that the use of different  sources of information should be cleared by the Members, 
yet others expressed that it would be preferable if information and any analysis came mainly from 
Members  themselves.   
49.  Some Members s upported the idea of the Secretariat preparing a compilation of Members' 
proposals and information documents.  Nevertheless, some Members highlighted the sensitiveness 
of such information and dissemination exercises . 
50.   I will need further guidance on how we proceed on information – specific suggestions on the 
type of studies and information products, including topics and sources that can help improve our 
understanding and inform our future discussions .  
WAY FORWARD AND COLL ECTIVE GUIDANCE  
51.  Let me now summarize  and concretize what I have just said into the three questions  posed in 
my convening fax for this meeting.  
1. How best to enhance  our engagement?  
52.  Some practical ideas for your consideration that may facilitate an enhanced and more 
informed engagement, a more interactive and proactive engagement  can be: 
 Lesser recourse to prepared general statements on well -known positions and making 
statements more focused a nd problem -solving;  JOB/AG/136  
 
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   More interactive dialogue, taking the floor as many times as n ecessary to seek 
clarifications  or to add clarifications, to elaborate on positions with a view to constructively 
advancing the discussions;  
 More collaborative creative search es through exchanges with each other inside and outside 
meetings to build consensual approaches th at can be  presented as win-win outcomes.  
 Building of each other ideas perhaps, as opposed to debating and combating the sharing of 
information when we meet.  
53.  Clearly, I have emphasized at several points that I am committed to inclusiveness and 
transparency and that will remain paramount if we are going to have a successful engagement  and 
outcomes.  
54.  I will be interested to hear your views on what I have just said as regards engagement.  
2. How to increase information sharing , more openly and even may be less s ensitively, 
for greater u nderstanding  of hard line so as to increase flexibility on all sides?  
55.  If this need for information is shared collectively by  the Membership, I would be  interested in 
getting your views and guidance on  topics that Members feel it is  important to focus on and 
develop information around.  
 Very importantly, w ould Members themselves volunteer to undertake some of these 
information dissemination initiatives?  
 Do Members consider that the WTO Secretariat and other multilateral  institutions can  be 
requested  by Members and entrusted to prepare background documents or organize 
workshops and seminars, as a complement to Members' initiatives?  
 
3. How to program and organize our consultations?  
56.  There are two p roposals for your conside ration here: 
 Engaging now on all issues of interest to Members;  
 
 Focussing on the fault lines and hard lines  inside those  issues  to explore breaking the 
impasse where we recognize the impasse, where we name and identify the impasse as it 
exists.  
 
57.  Finally, my objective is for us to be in a position to collectively define very soon a clear and 
effective roadmap to guide the agriculture negotiations.  I am ready  to call meetings in different 
configurations to discuss various matters and explore new approaches. I trust that what I will hear 
today from you collectively on top of what I have heard so far bilaterally  will allow this to be done 
very soon.  
58.  I could  not agree more with the Cairns Group statement there is n o need to stall our work . I 
was appointed as Cha ir six weeks ago and I can assure you that I have invested and will continue 
to invest my energy and what little creativity I might have to try to ensure that the  engine of our 
negotiations runs smoothly and runs well.  
59.  I will now open the floor for the second part of our meeting – your interventions for an 
interactive and productive discussion. Your views will determine the way forward.  
 
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