G/AG/GEN/185  
25 March  2021 
(21-2440) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Agriculture  Original:  Spanish  
 
  
THE IICA IN THE WTO COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE  
WORK  PLAN X I: 
JANUARY TO DECEM BER 2021  
SUBMISSION BY THE IICA  
The following submission, dated  25 March  2021, is being circulated at the request of the 
Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture  (IICA).  
 
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  G/AG/GEN/185  
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  1  BACKGROUND  
1.1.  In March  2010, the Committee on Agriculture of the World Trade Organization (WTO) granted 
the IICA ad hoc observer status in its regular meetings . Since June 2012, the IICA  has been 
operating a WTO Reference Centre, which provides technical advisory services in connection with 
various areas of agricultural trade to individuals from government, business and academic circles 
that are interested in improving their technical cap acity in these areas . 
1.2.  A number of joint technical cooperation activities have been conducted within the framework 
of the existing alliance between the IICA and the WTO on agricultural subjects of  particular interest 
to the two  institutions and their member  countries . It should also be noted that t he IICA has had 
ad hoc observer status in  the WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures since 2001.  
1.3.  In this context, the IICA submitted 10 annual  joint work plans between 2010 and 20 20 
(documents G/AG/GE N/92, G/AG/GEN/95, G/AG/GEN/105, G/AG/GEN/115, G/AG/GEN/125, 
G/AG/GEN/132, G/AG/GEN/139 , G/AG/GEN/145 , G/AG/GEN/150  and G/AG/GEN/158 ). 
1.4.  In order to ensure the continuity of the IICA's commitment, an 11th joint work plan has been 
drafted and will be presented to WTO  Members at the regular meeting of the Committee on 
Agriculture  to be held on 29 -30 March  2021. 
2  ACTIVITIES TO BE DEVELOPED IN RELATION TO THE WORK OF THE COMMITTEE ON 
AGRICULTURE  
2.1.  The following a ctivities are under consideration : 
a. Participation in and attendance at meetings of the Committee on Agriculture : The 
IICA, as an  observer organization , undertakes to participate in the regular meetings of 
this Committee held at the WTO and in those involvin g matters within the competence of 
the Institute 's member  State s. Following these meetings, the IICA will  systematize key 
information , both  for national and regional bodies involved in  agricultural trade  and for the 
business and academic sectors of IICA member States . 
b. Support for technical cooperation activities related to agricultural trade : The IICA 
will support  technical cooperation activities  at the hemispheric , regional and national levels 
geared to wards mini stries of agriculture , competent entities  involved in agricultural trade 
and ministerial bodies . Some of this  support is designed to enhance the impact of the IICA 
and its partnership with the WTO in the development of such activities . 
c. Monitoring areas of common interest : The IICA will monitor the progress of the 
agricultural trade negotiations at the WTO and will prepare technically to respond to the 
requests of its member States in the area of agricultural trade policy and to develop 
possible training pro grammes in areas of common interest with other technical partners . 
The IICA will, in turn, make its technical staff available to the WTO should it require support 
in respect of  requests for technical advice and training (in particular in Latin America and 
the Caribbean) related to matters  such as bioeconomy and productivity ; climate change 
and agricultural resilience ; regional integration ; food safety and quality ; territorial 
development and family farming ; and trade promotion and the internationalization of 
agribusinesses.  
d. Compliance by countries with agricultural notification requirements : In document 
G/AG/GEN/86/Rev. 41 of March  2021, the Committee identified countries that have  fallen 
behind in submitting agricultural notifications .1 In this light, the IICA will continue to 
support the WTO's initiatives to conduct activities including regional workshops and other 
training events that are geared towards Latin American and Caribb ean countries to help 
them improve, and ensure they are up to date with, their transparency commitments . 
 
1 Notifications are submitted in accordance with the requirements and formats adopted in 1995 by 
WTO Members (G/AG/2).  G/AG/GEN/185  
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  Similarly, it will support and channel national and regional initiatives that require 
WTO technical cooperation.  
In this connection , last year , the IICA completed  a study on the challenges and 
opportunities for the countries of the Americas in  terms of fulfilling agricultural notification 
obligations and participating in the meetings of the WTO Committee on Agriculture . In this 
study, countries provided  recommendations for enhancing  transparency in agriculture and 
participation in the Committee on Agricultur e and three possible areas of action for the 
IICA were identified : institutional capacity  building , technical trainin g and co llaborative  
networks . The summary of this study was presented to WTO Members at last year's final  
meeting of the Committee held on 30 November -1 December  2020. 
In the first half of this year, efforts to move forward with this  initiative  will contin ue and 
the countries  to be prioritized  among those requiring technical assistance to improve the 
preparation of agricultural notifications and participation in the Committee on Agriculture  
will be determined ; a task force  formed of  officials from the  selected country's  ministries 
of agriculture and trade, technical specialists from the IICA and WTO and technical staff 
from the delegations  to the WTO  in the country  will be established . Lastly, a work plan  
that includ es the specific technical needs of the identified actors  in order to  improv e their 
technical capacities  in relation to  agricultural notifications  will be developed  and resources  
mobilize d to finance this . 
e. Preparation of technical documents : Given the IICA's extensive and proven experience 
in this area, it will assist the WTO Secretariat with such activities at the Committee's 
request.  
This year,  a joint publication by the IICA and the International Food Policy Research 
Institute (IFPRI)  on the run-up to the Twelfth Ministerial Conference from a  Latin America n 
and Caribbean perspective , focussing specifically on  agriculture -related matters , will be 
prepared prior to the Conference , which  will be held at the end of the year . 
3  THE AGRICULTURAL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS W ITHIN THE INSTITUTE  
3.1.  The IICA's activities in the WTO will be conducted within the framework of the IICA's  Technical 
Cooperation Directorate, which will be responsible for implementing this work plan . The 
implementation of the plan will promote knowledge management and support the processes of trade 
promotion and internationalization of firms, regional integra tion, and  trade policy coordination 
through technical cooperation services and  the mobilization of relevant resources for inter -American 
agriculture, in accordance with the IICA's 2018 -2022 Medium -term Plan. 
3.2.  The IICA has an experienced network of experts i n agricultur e and international trade  based  at 
its central headquarters , its offices located in 34 member countries on the American continent  and 
its Permanent Office to the European Union  in Spain . 
3.3.  For further information, please contact : 
Adriana Campos Azofeifa  
 Daniel Rodríguez Saenz  
Technical Specialist, International Trade and 
Regional Integration Programme (IICA)  
Email: adriana.campos@iica.int  Director , International Trade and Regional 
Integration Programme (IICA)  
Email: daniel.rodriguez@iica.int  
 
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