. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/AG/24 
30 July 2007  
 (07-3243) 
Committee on Agriculture 
Special Session  
 
 
PROPOSALS FOR SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT 
 
Report by the Chairman of the Special Session of the  
Committee on Agriculture to the General Council  
 
 
I. INTRODUCTION 
1. The background and relevant do cuments concerning the special and differential treatment 
proposals referred to the Special Session of the Committee on Agriculture are set out in my earlier 
reports to the General Council.  The most recent of these reports is in document TN/AG/22 and TN/AG/22/Corr.1.  This includes the original proposals made by the African Group on 17 July 2002 (TN/CTD/W/3/Rev.2), the relevant sections of which were attached to my report of last year. 
2. At this stage of the negotiations it may be more  appropriate to outline the current situation in 
the negotiations on the issues underlying the 2002 proposal rather than the specific proposals 
themselves.  Earlier this year I prepared and dist ributed a challenges document which was distributed 
in two instalments on 30 April
1 and 25 May2 and held three weeks of intensive consultations in May 
and June.  During these consultations, and in these do cuments, many issues that relate to special and 
differential treatment in general and to the African Group's proposals were addressed.  
3. Based on the challenges document and the cons ultations I held, I recently distributed a 
Revised Draft of Modalities on 17 July (JOB(07)/128) .  In this document pr ecise drafting language 
was suggested for a number of special and differential treatment issues but for other issues, where the state of the negotiations was not at a sufficiently  advanced stage to permit precise suggestions, I 
outlined some principles which we might pursue in a further intensive phase of negotiations.  In all 
cases where developing countries would be required to undertake reductions in support and protection 
a lower reduction and a longer impl ementation period were included. 
4. It needs to be noted that the Revised Draft is a draft document that will be changed, possibly 
substantially in many sections, in subsequent nego tiations.  Therefore, while this note outlines some 
of the provisions in the Draft, delegations should bear in mind that these provisions will be discussed 
and the final product may be different. 
II. DOMESTIC SUPPORT 
5. The proposal of 2002 by the African Group referred to Article 6.2 of the Agreement on 
Agriculture and programmes in developing and least-developed countries for food security, rural 
development and assisting resource-poor and low-income farmers.   
6. The Revised Draft specifically states in para graph 17 that developing country Members will 
have continued access to the provisions of Article 6.2 of the Agreement on Agriculture.  It also puts 
                                                     
 
1 http://www.wto.org/engl ish/tratop_e/agric_e/ag chairtxt_30apr07_e.htm 
2 http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/agric_e/agchairtxt_25may07_e.htm TN/AG/24 
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  forward suggestions for amending the Green Box that are intended to effectively cover programmes in 
developing countries that cause no more than minimal trade distortion.   
7. In addition, the Revised Draft also provides for specific exemptions from reductions in 
Overall Trade-Distorting Domestic Support and de minimis  for developing countries with no AMS 
commitments and for net food-importing developing countries (as listed in document G/AG/5/Rev.8 
and which are also exempted from reductions in AMS).  Developing countries that allocate almost all 
their de minimis  support to low-income and resource-poor fa rmers are also exempt from reductions in 
de minimis.  
8. It should also be noted that the domestic support section of the Draft Modalities included 
specific rules that would apply less onerous provisions on developing countries in terms of product-
specific AMS caps and Blue Box disciplines. 
III. MARKET ACCESS 
9. The main focus of the 2002 proposal by the African Group concerning market access and the 
agriculture negotiations was on the question of measures taken by developed country Members in 
favour of developing and leas t-developed countries.   
10. As was noted by some delegations in the informal Special Session of the Committee on 
Agriculture held on 24 July, in my Challenges paper I had suggested that developed countries and 
developing countries declaring themselves in a positi on to do so should commit to provide full duty 
and quota-free access to imports from least-deve loped countries by the end of implementation.  
However, at the consultations a number of develope d countries referred to the wording of Annex F of 
the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration and stated that, while they had agreed to provide for duty and 
quota-free access for at least 97 per cent of tari ff lines by 2008 or no later than the start of 
implementation, this did not necessarily mean 97 pe r cent of agriculture tariff lines and nor did Annex 
F set a timetable for compliance with the agreement to  increase this to 100 per cent of tariff lines. 
11. The Draft Modalities refers to the text of Anne x F of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration. 
12. It may also be worth noting that the Revised Dr aft of Modalities also includes provisions for 
special and differential treatment in a number of ar eas under market access.  These provisions include: 
market access for exports of cotton by least-developed countrie s; exports of commodities; and 
additional flexibilities for small, vulnerable economies.   In less precise language that will have to be 
developed, the Draft also includes sections on issu es that have also been raised by developing 
countries such as tariff escalation, Special Products, the Special Safeguard Mechanism and tariff 
quota administration. 
IV. EXPORT COMPETITION 
13. Although export competition was not specifically ra ised in the African Group's proposal this 
section of the Draft also provides for special and differential treatment in a number of places.  These include:  the continuation of the Article 9.4 of th e Agreement on Agriculture for five years after the 
elimination of all forms of export subsidies; provisions for developing countries that provide export credits and for least-deve loped and net food-importing developing countries that benefit from export 
credits and certain exporting state trading enterprises in developing countries.  In addition, the 
proposed rules on food aid seek to meet the mandate of the Framework and the Hong Kong 
Ministerial Declaration by ensuring that there is no  unintended impediment to dealing with emergency 
situations and that prevent commercial displacement caused by food aid. 
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