G/AG/W/140  
 
26 February 2015  
(15-1132)  Page: 1/3  
Committee on Agriculture  Original: English  
 
 WORK ON IMPROVING THE IMPLEM ENTATION OF NOTIFICATIONS 
ON EXPORT RESTRICTIONS 
- DEFINITION OF "FOODSTUFFS" - 
COMMUNICATION FROM JAPAN 
The following communication, received on 25 Februa ry 2015, is being circulated at the request of 
the Delegation of Japan. 
 
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1  INTRODUCTION 
1.1.  In March 2013, Japan submitted a document (G/AG/W/107) related to the work on improving 
the implementation of notification on export rest rictions according to Article 12 of the Agreement 
on Agriculture. The document summarized 3 points that we should explore in depth: the definition 
of net food exporters, foodstuffs, and the timing of notifications. 
1.2.  Among them, the definition of net food ex porters was discussed in the regular meeting held 
in last June, based on a Japanese proposal.
1 Following up on that, this paper aims to introduce 
points for discussion of foodstuffs. 
2  DISCUSSION OF "FOODSTUFFS" THUS FAR 2.1  "Foodstuffs" in GATT 
 Article 11.2(a) excludes "foodstuffs or other products essential to the exporting contracting 
party" from general elimination of quantitative restrictions. 
2.2  "Foodstuffs in the Agreement on Agriculture" 
 Article 12 stipulates that the Members instituting the export prohibition or restriction on 
foodstuffs shall give due consideration to the effects of such prohibition or restriction on importing Members' food security. Furthermor e, Article 2 describes the product coverage 
of the agreement. 
2.3  Common understanding formed in informal sessions of the Committee on 
Agriculture 
 Foodstuffs in Article 12 refer to food products included in the product coverage (e.g. neither 
fish and fish products nor non-food products such as wool might be included).  
 The WTO document submitted in 2002 (G/AG/13: made by the Inter-Agency Panel of the 
General Council and the Committee on Agriculture, as a part of work related to short-term 
difficulties in financing normal levels of commercial imports of basic foodstuffs, based on 
the Marrakech decision regarding NFIDC) exemplified cereals, rice, basic dairy products, 
                                               
1 In a regular meeting in June 2014, the forms of data to determine net food exporting countries were 
examined (G/AG/W/130.) This document suggests that a "3-year average" is appropriate in terms of maintaining efficiency and reflecting reality. G/AG/W/140 
 
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  pulses, vegetable oils, and sugar as basic food stuffs. Therefore, these basic foodstuffs are 
included in foodstuffs in Article 12. 
2.4  Comments from some Members made in the informal session in March 2013: 
 Which products have been notified or ne ver been notified has to be examined. 
 Since there is no definition of foodstuffs, the focus should be on products on which Members 
agree and the coverage should not be extended. On the other hand, bearing the importance for food security in importing countries, feed and seed should be notified. 
 It is desirable that all products listed in Annex 1 are notified, in light of improving 
transparency. 
3  PRACTICE OF THE NOTIFICATIONS 3.1.  In order to facilitate the discussion, past practice regarding notifications is analysed. The 
result is as follows.
2 
Agricultural items have been notified or not notified to CoA 
 Notified items Not notified items 
Products for 
human consumption 1 Wheat, 2 Durum wheat, 3 Barley, 4 Rye, 
5 Oats, 6 Buckwheat, 7 Maize (corn), 8 Wheat flour, 9 Maize (corn) fl our, 10 Barley flour, 
11 Groats and meal of wheat, 12 Groats and meal of Maize (corn), 13 Groats and meal of other cereals, 14 Other worked grains (for 
example, husked, pearled, sliced or kibbled) of 
Maize (corn), 15 Other worked grains (for 
example, husked, pearled, sliced or kibbled) of wheat, 16 Cereals grains otherwise worked, 17 Sunflower seed 1 Rice, 2 Broken rice, 3 wheat, 
4 Barley, 5 Rye, 6 Corn, Maize, 7 Sorghum, 8 Rapeseed, 9 Soya bean, 10 Sunflower seed, 11 Wheat flour, 12 Natural honey, 13 Fresh grapes, 14 Fresh apples, pears and quinces, 15 Pulses, 16 Onions, 17 Milk, 18 Milk 
derivatives, 19 Edible oils, 20 Crude 
palm oil, 21 Rapeseed oil, 22 coffee, 23 Cocoa, 24 Raw cocoa, 25 Sugar, 26 Molasses 
Products for animal consumption 18 Feeding wheat, 19 Maize fodder, 
20 Sunflower-seed, safflower or cotton-seed oil and fractions thereof, 21 Cereal straw and 
husks, unprepared, 22 hay, lucerne (alfafa), clover, sainfoin, forage kale, lupines, vetches 
and similar forage products, 23 Preparations of a kind used in animal fe eding, 24 Flours, meals 
and pellets, of meat or  meat offal, unfit for 
human consumption; greaves, 25 Bran, sharps and other residues of cereals or of leguminous plants, 26 Oil-cake and ot her solid residues of 
rape or colza seeds, 27 Oil-cake and other solid 
residues, resulting from the extraction of soyabean oil, 28 Solid waste, resulting from the extraction of vegetable fats or oils, 29 Vegetable materials and vegetable waste, vegetable residues and by-products  27 Flours and meals of oil seeds or 
oleaginous fruits, 28 Oil-cake and other solid residues of soybean oil, 29 De-oiled rice bran oil cake 
Other products - 30 Casein, 31 Caseinates, 32 Raw 
cotton, 33 Snake skin, 34 Raw fur lamb skins 
Note: Seeds are included under grains on HS 4 digits. 
 
                                               
2 The notified items are listed in TN/AG/S/28 (20 March 2013). The items never notified refer to 
products reported in WT/TPR/OV/W/5/Rev.1 (7 September 2011) that were never notified to the Committee on Agriculture. G/AG/W/140 
 
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  Discussion Points  
1. Cereals, rice, basic dairy products, pulses, vegetable oils and sugar have been notified by 
some Members, though not every time. These products are included as basic foodstuffs in 
the report of the Inter-Agency Panel of the General Council and the Committee on 
Agriculture in 2002. 
2. Coffee, cocoa and fruits have never been notified despite being products for direct human 
consumption. 
3. Feed such as feed grains or oil-cakes have been notified. 
4. Grain seeds have never been notified independently of grains. 
5. Non-edible products such as cotton or snake skin have not previously been notified. 
4  FURTHER DISCUSSION 
4.1.  The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary 7th edition (Oxford University Press, 2005) 
describes foodstuffs as "any substance that is used  as food". Furthermore, the dictionary explains 
the definition of "food" as "things that people or animals eat". Taking this into account, additional 
consideration of the following points below deri ved from the examples of the notifications is 
necessary in order to encourage Members to make notifications. 
4.2.  In principle, things that people eat should be notified. However, how can we classify non-
essential foods which have not been notified? Can we justify such exceptions? 
4.3.  Things that animals eat should be notified, since those are included in "foodstuffs". If there 
are some exceptions, how can we compromise? 
4.4.  Can other products be regarded as out of scope of the notification consistent with 
Article 12.1(b)? Taking into account Article 12.1(a) that the Members instituting the export 
prohibition or restriction on foodstuffs shall give due consideration to the effects of such prohibition or restriction on importing Members' food security, besides (1) and (2) above, are there any 
products which should be notified as a foodstuff? 
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