WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/L/965 
11 October 2011 
 (11-4949) 
  
  
 
REPORT (2011) ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE 
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE (REGULAR SESSION)  
 
Report by the Chairperson 
 
 
 The present report on the regular meetings of the Committee on Agriculture held in 2011 is 
submitted on the responsibility of the Chairperson,  Mr. Jonas Skei of Norway, as agreed by the 
Committee at its sixty-third session.  
_______________ 
 
 
1. The Committee on Agriculture held three regul ar meetings on 31 March, 23 June and 
29-30 September.
1  A further regular meeting is scheduled for 17 November 2011. 
Review Process 
2. In accordance with Article 18.1 of the Agreemen t on Agriculture ("the Agreement"), at each 
of its meetings, the Committee reviewed progress in the implementation of Members' commitments.  This Review Process was undertaken on the basis of notifications submitted by Members in the areas 
of market access, domestic support, export compe tition, export prohibitions and restrictions as well as 
under the follow-up to the Marrakesh Ministerial D ecision on NFIDCs.  In total, 156 notifications 
were subject to review in 2011. 
3. At each of its meetings, the Committee revi ewed the overall position with respect to 
Members' compliance with their notification ob ligations under Article 18. 2 and other relevant 
provisions of the Agreement.  Specific concerns we re raised regarding the outstanding notifications 
that a number of Members have yet to submit to  the Committee.  Documents showing the current 
status of compliance with notification requireme nts were circulated in the G/AG/GEN/86 series.
2 
4. Under the Review Process, the Committee also addressed a wide range of general and specific 
matters relevant to the implementation of commi tments that were raised independently of 
notifications under the provisions of Article 18.6 of the Agreement. 
5. In 2011, the Committee has been working inten sely towards an agreement on an updated List 
of Significant Exporters for the purposes of the Ta ble ES:2 requirement.  Building on discussions held 
since 2010, the Chairperson circulated a draft revised list3 on 17 June 2011.  In view of pending 
concerns, formal and informal discussions are on-going on procedural, technical and implementation 
                                                      
1 The summary reports of these meetings are cont ained in documents G/AG/R/61, 62 and 63 (to be 
issued). 
2 See latest version in G/AG/GEN/86/Rev.7, dated 29 September 2011. 
3 G/AG/W/82/Rev.1 refers. G/L/965 
Page 2  
 
  aspects.  In this context, a written request
4 for exemption from notification obligations under the 
Table ES:2 format was submitted fo r the Committee's consideration. 
6. Pursuant to Article 18.5 of the Agreement, th e Committee will hold its annual consultation on 
Members' participation in the normal growth of world trade in agricultural products within the 
framework of the export subsidy disciplines during the forthcoming November 2011 meeting.  A 
background note will be issued by the Secretariat to facilitate the discussions.5 
Monitoring the Follow-up to the Ministerial Decision on Measures Concerning the Possible 
Negative Effects of the Reform Programme on Least-Developed and Net Food-Importing 
Developing Countries (NFIDCs) 
7. In accordance with the Committee's Decision6, Grenada, Maldives and Swaziland were 
included in the WTO list of NFIDCs at  the March 2011 meeting of the Committee.7  The follow-up to 
the Ministerial Decision on NFIDCs will be monitore d by the Committee at its November meeting.  
As is customary, that monitoring exer cise will be undertaken on the basis of, inter alia , Table NF:1 
notifications by donor Members, contributions by Members and observer organizations, as well as a 
background note to be prepared by the Secretariat.8   
Implementation-related issues and concerns 
8. The Committee maintained a standing item on its agenda relating to implementation issues, 
both in the framework of its follow-up to the Decision by the Doha Ministerial Conference on 
Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns9, as well as in the framework of issues and proposals 
referred to it by the General Council.  The Compendium of Documents on Implementation-Related 
Issues , consolidating information with respect to th e work in the following areas of implementation, 
was updated10: 
(a) Article 10.2 of the Agreement on Agriculture :  the development of internationally 
agreed disciplines to govern the provision of export credits, export credit guarantees or insurance programmes, taking into account  the provisions of paragraph 4 of the 
Decision on Measures Concerning the Possi ble Negative Effects of the Reform 
Programme on Least-Developed and Net Food-Importing Developing Countries; 
(b) Examination of Possible Means of Improvi ng the Effectiveness the NFIDC Decision: 
food aid, technical and financial assistan ce in the context of aid programmes to 
improve agricultural productivity and infrastru cture, and financing of normal levels of 
commercial imports of basic foodstuffs;  and 
(c) Members' Addenda to their Table MA:1 no tifications in accordance with paragraph 
1.1 of the Decision of the General Council in WT/L/384 regarding the administration 
of tariff rate quota regimes in a transparent, equitable and non-discriminatory manner. 
                                                      
4 G/AG/W/85 refers. 
5 G/AG/W/32/Rev.12, to be issued shortly. 
6 G/AG/3 refers. 
7  G/AG/5/Rev.9 refers. 
8 G/AG/W/42/Rev.14, to be issued shortly. 
9  Paragraph 2 of WT/MIN(01)/17 refers. 
10  G/AG/W/70 series refer.  G/L/965 
 Page 3 
 
 
  Best practices 
9. As part of its work on "Best practices" fo r preparing and reviewing notifications under 
existing requirements and formats, the Comm ittee on Agriculture continued focussing on the 
compilation of suggestions by Members contained in document G/AG/W/73/Rev.2.  The Secretariat 
contributed to the discussion on technical aspects (re ferencing processes, whether within and across 
the three pillars) in order to explore ways in wh ich some of the information needs could be partly 
addressed, hence facilitating the preparation a nd review of agriculture notifications.11 
China Transitional Review 
10. At its sixty-third session, the Committee held its final Transitional Review under paragraph 
18 of the Protocol on the Accession of the People's Republic of China.12 
Technical assistance 
11. As part of capacity building initiatives, a seri es of Workshops on Agriculture Notifications 
were held in 2011, targeting government officials having direct responsibility in the preparation of 
agriculture notifications.  A joint IICA-WTO region al event took place in Costa Rica in April 2011 
for 28 Spanish-speaking government officials.  As provided for in the WTO's Biennial Technical 
Assistance and Training Plan 2010-2011 , a second event was organized in Geneva on the side-lines 
of the 63rd regular session of the Committee, offering speci alized training to 20 capital-based French-
speaking government officials, nine of whom repr esented least-developed country Members.  A third 
event will be held on the margins of the 64th regular session in November 2011 for English-speaking 
government officials.   
Information systems on agriculture notifications 
12. In response to Members' requests for improved a ccess to notification-related information, the 
Secretariat launched the development of a comp rehensive tool, the Agriculture Information 
Management System (Ag-IMS).  The system will allo w users to search and analyse (i) notifications 
submitted by Members in line with Committee pro cedures and formats; (ii) agriculture-related 
notified information;  and (iii) questions raised and responses provided in the context of the Review 
Process carried out by the Committee on Agriculture.  Furthermore, the system will enable the on-line 
submission of notifications as well as the on-lin e submission of questions and responses for the 
Review Process.  Meanwhile, the datasets on information notified by way of Table MA:2, MA:5, DS:1 and ES:1 formats were regularly updated and made publicly available on the WTO website.  In 
this context, a more comprehe nsive compilation of ad hoc recourse to volume- and price-based 
safeguards notified since 1995 was prepared to refl ect additional details on trigger volumes, trigger 
prices, as well as cross-references to individual no tifications.  Copies were made available to 
delegations for verification purposes. 
Observer status 
13. The following international intergovernmental or ganizations have regular observer status in 
the Committee:  the FAO, the IM F, the International Grains Council, the OECD, UNCTAD, the 
World Food Programme and the World Bank.  The Inter-American Ins titute for Agricultural 
Cooperation (IICA) continues to benefit from ad hoc  observer status on the basis of meeting-by-
meeting invitations. 
                                                      
11 G/AG/W/70/Rev.2/Add.1 refers. 
12 G/AG/27 refers. G/L/965 
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  14. At present, no consensus has been reached as re gards requests for observer status by eleven 
other international intergovernmental organizations.
13 
Schedule of regular meetings in 2012 
15. The Committee adopted the following schedule for its regular meetings in 2012: 
21-22 March, 20-21 June, 26-27 Se ptember and 14-15 November. 
__________ 
                                                      
13 G/AG/W/29/Rev.7 refers.