JOB/AG/152  
 
12 December 2018  
(18-7855) Page: 1/1 
Committee  on Agriculture  
Special Session    
 
 REPORT BY AMB. J. R. D. (DEEP) FO RD, CHAIR OF THE COA SP ECIAL SESSION,  
TO THE INFORMAL TNC AND HOD S MEETING  
10 DECEMBER 2018  
1.   I would like to make a brief report on the state of play in the agriculture negotiations.  
2.   Since my last report to the informal meeting of the Trade Negotiation Committee on 16 October, 
I have been holding monthly issue -specific agriculture negotiation meetings, as per the schedule I 
circulated to Members on 27 July. Most recently, t hree themati c sessions dedicated to Market Access 
and SSM; to Export competition, Export Restrictions and Market Access , and to Domestic Support 
and Public stockholding for Food Security Purposes (PSH) were held on 22 October, 15 November 
and 6 December, respectively.    
3.   Each of these sessions benefitted from submissions and presentations by Members on the issues 
of interest to them. There were, for example, submissions by Paraguay, the U nited States and the 
Russian Federation on Market Access, by Japan and Singapore on Export Restrictions , and by Canada 
on Export Competition and Domestic Support, and presentations by the G33 on SSM and PSH. In 
addition, a presentation was also made by the Secretariat on the agriculture tariff landscape and the 
various online data system s that Members could consult. There will be one more meeting this year 
on Cotton on 14 December.  
4.   I am glad to report that I continue to be very satisfied with the high level of engagement by 
Members. They have demonstrated their commitment to seeking avenu es to agree on trade rules 
that improve the agricultural trading system. While there is not yet any discernible change in the 
fundamental positions of Members on any of these topics that I could report at this stage, the 
submissions and presentations made by them underline the importance of engaging in analytical 
work and technical exchanges to better understand  each other 's positions in order to make progress . 
5.   Based on the process and level of engagement thus far, I circulated on 3 December, ahead of 
the C oA Special Session  on 7 December, a Way Forward  document for the period from January to 
April 2019 that seeks to intensify the discussions on the negotiating subjects. After many bilateral 
consultations , as well as the discussions on 7 December, the monthl y CoA S pecial Session  meetings,  
based on Members' submissions and presentations  will continue . It is foreseen that these meetings 
will take place on 14 -15 February 2019, 14 -15 March 2019 and 11 -12 April 2019.  
6.   In addition, the deliberations of monthly meeti ngs will be complemented by inputs from 
Members -led working groups open to all interested Members . Over the coming months working 
groups, starting with two in January, will be carefully phased in, eventually addressing all seven 
topics in the agriculture n egotiations, namely Domestic Support, Public Stockholding for Food 
Security purposes, Cotton, Market Access, the Special Safeguard Mechanism, Export Competition 
and Export Restrictions.  
7.   These working groups , operating under my supervision, will seek to make progress on each of 
the negotiating issues. They will be chaired by co-coordinators  from Members with divergent views, 
or if this is not possible, by neutral coordinators with no interest at stake. Cotton will be addressed 
on a separate t rack. 
8.   These groups will report on their work at the monthly CoA S pecial Session  meetings.  
9.   This future programme of work will be reviewed in April 2019 and adjusted , if necessary , for the 
period from May to end of July 2019.  
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