G/L/1093  
14 November 2014  
(14-6688)  Page: 1/3  
  
 
 REPORT (2014) ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE 
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE 
REPORT BY THE CHAIRPERSON 
The present report on the regular meetings of  the Committee on Agriculture held in 2014 is 
submitted on the responsibility of the Chairperson, Mrs. Miriam Chaves of Argentina, as agreed by 
the Committee at its seventy-fifth session. 
 
_______________ 
  
1.1.  The present draft report is being circ ulated by the Chairperson of the Committee on 
Agriculture on her own responsibility. This report  provides a summary of the activities of the 
Committee on Agriculture ("the Committee") during 2014. 
1.2.  The Committee held four meetings in 2014 on 29 January, 21 March, 5-6 June and 
13 November.
1 In addition, five informal meetings were held in 2014. 
1.3.  In accordance with Article 18.1 of the Agr eement on Agriculture ("the Agreement") at each of 
its meetings the Committee reviewed progress in the implementation of Members' commitments. 
This review process is undertaken on the basis of  notifications submitted by Members in the areas 
of market access, domestic support, export compet ition, export prohibitions and restrictions as 
w e l l  a s  u n d e r  t h e  f o l l o w - u p  t o  t h e  M a r r a k e s h  M i n i s t e r i a l  D e c i s i o n  o n  N F I D C s .  I n  t o t a l  
82 notifications were subject to review in 2014. Specific concerns were also raised regarding the 
outstanding notifications that some Members had yet to submit to the Committee.2 
1.4.  Overall in the Committee meetings th at took place in January, March, June and 
November 2014 Members posed 237 questions in connection with specific notifications. These 
questions were distributed as follows: 76% related to domestic support issues, 17% to market access, 6.5% to export subsidies and 0.5% in relation to the NFIDC Decision.
3 
                                               
1 The summary reports of these meetings are co ntained in documents G/AG/R/73, G/AG/R/74, 
G/AG/R/75 and Corr.1 and G/AG/R/76 [to be issued]. 
2 See for example G/AG/R/73, paras. 1.9-1.11. 
3 See G/AG/W/118 section 2.1-2.5; G/AG/W/126, section 2.1-2.4; G/AG/W/135, section 2.1-2.4; and 
G/AG/W/136, section 2.7-2.7. G/L/1093 
 
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  1.5.  A wide range of matters relevant to the implementation of commitments was also raised 
independently of notifications under the provisions  of Article 18.6 of the Agreement. A total of 
35 implementation-related issues were raised by eleven Members during 2014.4 Out of these, 
16 issues were discussed for the first time in 2014, whereas the remaining issues were discussed 
one or more times in previous years either under  the review of notifications or under matters 
raised under Article 18.6. Topics in relation to domestic support were among the most discussed in 
this section (e.g., request for additional information on domestic support measures). 
1.6.  At each meeting the Committee reviewed the current status of Members' compliance with 
their notification obligations under the Agreement. A document summarizing the current status of compliance with notification requirements was circulated at each Committee meeting.
5 While a 
significant proportion of notifications are still outstanding (about 30%), Members have increased 
their efforts to bring their notification record up to date by submitting notifications covering 
multiple reporting periods. 
1.7.  In March the Committee, in the absence of an agreed outcome, concluded work on updating 
the list of Significant Exporters for the purposes of Table ES:2 notification.6 The results of the 
discussions on the subject are reflected in the Chairperson's report "review of the list of significant exporters".
7 The Chairperson encouraged Members who, based on recent trade data, no longer 
hold a share exceeding 5% in world agricultural trade of particular products, to inform the 
Committee about their decision to make (or not to ma ke) a Table ES:2 notification in view of their 
current share in world agricultural trade.8 Similarly, in the interest of transparency, the Chair 
suggested that those Members who, based on recent data, hold world agricultural trade shares 
exceeding 5%, but who did not appear in the 19 95 list of significant exporters (G/AG/2/Add.1), 
might consider making a Table ES:2 notification in respect of the relevant products on a voluntary basis.
9 In the absence of an agreement on a update d list of significant exporters, the old list 
agreed in 1995 (G/AG/2/Add.1) continues to determine the Table ES:2 notification obligation. An 
update of the list in the future would enhance the transparency and monitoring functions of the 
Committee by ensuring that Table ES:2 notification obligations reflect the current structure of 
world trade.  
1.8.  The first annual dedicated discussion on ex port competition took place during the June 
meeting. The discussions were held on the basis of the Secretariat's background document based 
on the answers to the questionnaire sent to Members on 10 February 2014, supplemented by 
information already contained in document TN/AG/S/27/Rev.1, and relevant information coming 
from Table ES:1 and ES:3 notifications and notifications to the Working Party on State Trading Enterprises received by the Secretariat up to 30 April 2014.
10 This discussion was viewed as the 
first concrete step of one deliverable of the Bali Ministerial outcomes. The Chairperson held 
informal consultations to discuss how the information collection process for this exercise could be enhanced in 2015. 
                                               
4 The issues raised included Egypt's export restri ction on rice; European Union's levy on fruits and 
vegetables; India's rice expo rts; Japan's new agricultural policy; Cana da's proposed changes to tariff schedule; 
India's market support price for rice; India's sugar expo rt subsidies; Turk ey's domestic su pport and export 
subsidies; United States' farm Bill; Brazil's 2014-15 Harvest Plan; Honduras' tax exemptions; European Union's Sugar production levies; China's cott on Domestic Support; Ecuador's import  licensing of certain agricultural 
products; India's national food security bill; Turkey's de stination of wheat flour sale; United States Farm Bill; 
India's sugar export subsidies; India's wheat stocks and exports; Turkey's dome stic support and export 
subsidies; Thailand's paddy pledging  scheme; Canada's dairy policies; India's subsidization policy; India's 
national agricultural insurance scheme; India's landholding laws; Ecuador's domestic purchase requirements; Canada's proposed changes to tariff schedule; Saint Lu cia's domestic purchase re quirements for poultry and 
pork; Brazil's domestic support programmes; Costa Ri ca's compliance with AMS commitments; Brazil's tax 
credit programmes; Canada's tariff-rate quota cheese; Russian Federation's agricultural support for 2015; Thailand's rice farmer assistance programme; and Turk ey's agricultural credit and investment subsidies. 
(see G/AG/W/118 section 1.1-1.14; G/AG/W/126, section 1.1-1.16; G/AG/W/135, section 1.1-1.17; and G/AG/W/136, section 1.1-1.17.). 
5 G/AG/GEN/86/Rev.16, Rev. 17, Rev. 18 and Rev. 19. 
6 Section 2.3 of G/AG/R/74. 
7 G/AG/W/123. 
8 No Members falling in this situation has so far informed the Committ ee about their decision. 
9 Some Table ES:2 notifications made subsequent to  the circulation of the Chairperson's report did 
incorporate additional products as well as the enhanc ed transparency elements as  recommend in the report. 
See for example G/AG/N/CAN/101, G/ AG/N/NZL/85 and G/AG/N/USA/99. 
10 G/AG/W/125 and addenda 1 to 4 dated 21 May, completed by two corrigenda dated 28 May. G/L/1093 
 
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  1.9.  The Follow-up to the Ministerial Decision on Measures Concerning the Possible Negative 
Effects of the Reform Programme on Least de veloped and Net Food-Importing Developing 
Countries (NFIDC) was monitored in the Committee's November meeting. The monitoring exercise was undertaken on the basis of, inter alia, Table NF:1 notifications by donor Members, 
contributions by Members an d observer organizations,
11 as well as a background note prepared by 
the Secretariat.12 The WTO list of NFIDCs13 remained unchanged as no new applications had been 
received since 2012. 
1.10.  The Committee maintained a standing item on its agenda relating to implementation issues, 
both in the framework of its follow-up to the De cision by the Doha Ministerial Conference on 
Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns14, as well as in the framework of issues and 
proposals referred to it by the General Council.  
1.11.  In the Committee Members continue to exchange views on approaches to strengthen the 
functioning of the Committee particularly its work relating to transparency. Members also continued discussions on how to improve submission  of notifications. These issues were discussed 
in informal meetings in January, March, and June.
15 The Committee also discussed under an 
informal setting issues relating to trends in domestic support, trade trends and aspects related to the implementation of market access commitments. On  this last topic, the Secretariat prepared, at 
the Committee's request, a compilation of recent agricultural tariff and trade data.
16 
1.12.  The Committee also discussed in informal and formal settings follow-up to the Bali 
Ministerial decisions related to (i) the Understanding on Tariff Rate Quota Administration Provisions of Agricultural Products, as defined in Article 2 of the Agreement on Agriculture; (ii) Public 
Stockholding for Food Security Purpose; and (iii) the Bali Ministerial Declaration on Export 
Competition. At the November meeting as part of the follow-up to the Bali Decision on TRQ administration, the Chair suggested adopting as best practice a Table MA:2 notification format 
including an additional column to report TRQ fill rates. 
1.13.  To facilitate the preparation and review of  agriculture notifications, the WTO's Agriculture 
and Commodities Division in collaboration with the Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation 
delivered the fifth workshop in Geneva on agricu lture notifications on 10-13 June 2014. A total of 
20 participants from developing country capita ls were funded by the WTO and a number of 
participants came on a self-funded basis. The work shop included practical exercises related to the 
review process of the Committee on Agriculture and provided hands-on training on the use of the 
Agriculture Information Management System (AG-IMS). Participants also had the opportunity to 
meet individually with Secretariat staff to consult on unfulfilled notification obligations. In addition, in 2014 the Secretariat conducted five national seminars on agriculture notifications in Dominican 
Republic, Malaysia, Paraguay, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
17 
1.14.  The following international intergovernmental organizations have regular observer status in 
the Committee: Food and Agriculture Organization, International Monetary Fund, the International 
Grains Council, OECD, UNCTAD, World Food Prog ramme, and the World Bank. The Inter-American 
Institute for Agricultural Cooperation (IICA) contin ued to benefit from ad hoc observer status. No 
consensus has been reached as regards requests for observer status by eleven other international organizations. 
1.15.  The Committee agreed to hold regular meetings on 4 March, 4 June, 24 September and 
19 November in 2015. 
__________  
                                               
11 G/AG/GEN/121, submitted by IICA; G/AG/GEN/122, submitted by FAO; G/AG/GEN/123 submitted by 
OECD and G/AG/GEN/124 submitted by the IGC. 
12 G/AG/W/42/Rev.17. 
13 G/AG/5/Rev.10. 
14 Paragraph 2 of WT/MIN(01)/17. 
15 See, for example, G/AG/W/117, G/AG/W/122, G/AG/W/128 and G/AG/W/113. 
16 G/AG/W/133. 
17 The technical assistance activities in the United Ar ab Emirates and Qatar will take place in the months 
of November and December, respectively.