WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/AG/18 
21 July 2005 
 (05-3269) 
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. On 1 August 2004, the General Council adopted th e following decision with respect to special 
and differential treatment: 
"... the General Council reaffirms that provi sions for special and differential (S&D) 
treatment are an integral part of the WTO Agreements.  The Council recalls Ministers' 
decision in Doha to review all S&D treatmen t provisions with a view to strengthening 
them and making them more precise, e ffective and operational.  The Council 
recognizes the progress that has been made so far ... 
The Council also instructs all WTO bodies to which proposals in Category II have been 
referred to expeditiously complete the consid eration of these proposals and report to the 
General Council, with clear recommendations  for a decision, as soon as possible and no 
later than July 2005.  In doing so, these bodies will ensure that, as far as possible, their 
meetings do not overlap so as to enable full and effective participation of developing 
countries in these discussions."
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1 WT/L/579. TN/AG/18 
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 Furthermore, in the Doha Development Round Declaration, Ministers agreed: 
"... that all special and differential treatment provisions shall be reviewed with a view to 
strengthening them, and making them more prec ise, effective and operational.  In this 
connection, we endorse the work programme on speci al and differential treatment set out in the 
Decision on Implementation-Re lated Issues and Concerns."
2 
2. The special and differential treatment provisi ons referred to the Special Session of the 
Committee on Agriculture are contained in paragraphs  48 to 51 of a proposal from the African Group of 
17 July 2002 (TN/CTD/W/3/Rev.2).  The relevant sections are attached.   
3. At consultations held on 9 De cember 2004, several delegations indicated that these issues 
would be best addressed through the negotiations.  Th is way, the proposals and the underlying reasons 
for making them could be taken in to consideration when examining the issues raised in the Agreed 
Framework (Annex A of the General Council Decision of 1 August 2004 (WT/L/579)).   
4. In addition to the consultations held on 9 Decem ber, seven formal meetings of the Special 
Session of the Committee on Agriculture and many mo re open-ended consultati ons and consultations 
with different delegations have been held.  Many  of these meetings addressed issues relating to the 
proposals made by the African Group. 
II. PROPOSALS 
A. ARTICLE 6.2 OF THE AGREEMENT ON AGRICULTURE  
5. Article 6.2 of the Agreement on Agriculture pr ovides flexibility for developing countries to 
support agriculture through certain types of input subsidies for low-income or resource-poor farmers 
and for investment subsidies generally available to  agriculture in developing country Members.  The 
Agreement on Agriculture does not impose a limit on the amount of subsidies provided under these 
programmes.  Paragraph 6 of the Agreed Framework affirms that developing countries will continue to 
have access to these provisions.   
6. In addition, the Agreed Framework states that developing countries that allocate almost all de 
minimis  support to subsistence and resource-poor fa rmers will be exempted from reductions in de 
minimis  limits.  Furthermore, the Framework provides th at developing countries w ill continue to benefit 
                                                      
2 WT/MIN(01)/DEC/1, para. 44.  Paragraph 12.1  of the Decision on Implementation-Related Issues and 
Concerns.(WT/MIN(01)/ 17) reads as follows: 
12. Cross-cutting Issues 
 12.1 The Committee on Trade and Development is instructed:  
 (i) to identify those special and differential treatment provisions that are already mandatory in 
nature and those that are non-binding in character, to cons ider the legal and practical implications for developed 
and developing Members of converting sp ecial and differential treatment measur es into mandatory provisions, to 
identify those that Members consider should be made mandatory, and to report to the General Council with clear 
recommendations  for a decision by July 2002; 
(ii) to examine additional ways in which special and differential treatment provisions can be made 
more effective, to consider ways, including improved  information flows, in whic h developing countries, in 
particular the least-developed countries , may be assisted to make best use of special and differential treatment 
provisions, and to report to the General Council with clear recommendations for a decision by July 2002;  and  
(iii) to consider, in the context of the work programme adopted at the Fourth Session of the 
Ministerial Conference, how special and differential treatment may be incorporated into the architecture of WTO rules. 
The work of the Committee on Trade and Development in this regard shall take fully into consideration 
previous work undertaken as noted in WT/COMTD/W/77/Rev.1.  It will also be without prejudice to work in respect of implementation of WTO Agreements in the General Council and in other Councils and Committees.  TN/AG/18 
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 from the provisions of Article 9.4 of the Agre ement on Agriculture which give an exception from 
commitments for certain types of transport and marketing subsidies. 
7. In the negotiations, several proposals for add itional special and differential treatment for 
developing countries have been held,  including sugg estions that the Green Box criteria in Annex 2 of 
the Agreement on Agriculture should be amended to cover certain programmes used by developing 
countries which cause no more than minimal trade-distortion. 
B. ARTICLE 14 OF THE AGREEMENT ON AGRICULTURE  
8. Article 14 of the Agreement on Agriculture refe rs to the Agreement on the Application of 
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures.  On 30 June  2005, the Committee on San itary and Phytosanitary 
Measures adopted a report on proposals for special a nd differential treatment which is contained in 
document G/SPS/35 of 7 July 2005.  This report addresses,  at least to some extent, the concerns relating 
to the proposal from the African Group. 
C. ARTICLE 15.1  OF THE AGREEMENT ON AGRICULTURE  
9. The Agreed Framework includes several issues re lating to future commitments which will be 
bound in Members' Schedules and wh ich will be of interest to developing countries, such as tariff 
escalation and tariff simplification.  In addition, pa ragraph 43 of the Framework provides a basis for 
effectively addressing the long-standing commitment to  achieve the fullest liberalization of trade in 
tropical agricultural products and products of partic ular importance to the diversification of production 
from the growing of illicit narcotic crops.  At the same time, paragraph 44 of  the Framework recognizes 
the importance of long-standing preferences and states that the issue of preference erosion will be addressed.   
10. Since 1 August 2004, the various issues relating to the proposal from the African Group have 
been discussed several times in different formats.  However, before consideri ng what could be included 
in Members' Schedules relating to special and differe ntial treatment, it is necessary first to have some 
outline at least of the modalities for market acce ss, domestic support and export competition.  Once 
these building blocks are in place, it will then be pos sible to move on to consider specific issues relating 
to this proposal as well as others from different de veloping country delegations that seek to address the 
underlying concerns. 
D. A
RTICLE 15.2  OF THE AGREEMENT ON AGRICULTURE  
11. In several places, the Agreed Framework stat es that developing countries will have longer 
implementation periods and/or lower reductions (paragraph 6 on domestic support, paragraph 22 on 
export competition and paragraph 49 on market access).  In addition, the Framework also states that 
developing countries will have the flexibility to desi gnate an appropriate numbe r of products as Special 
Products, based on criteria of food security, livelihood security and rural development needs and that a 
Special Safeguard Mechanism will be established for use by developing country Members.  In addition, 
paragraph 45 states that the leas t-developed country Members will have full access to all special and 
differential treatment provisions and that they will not be required to undertake reduction commitments. 
12. In the negotiations, the various aspects of spec ial and differential treatment have been the 
subject of considerable debate.  However, at th e moment, the negotiations are focused on developing 
the rules and formulae.  The question of implemen tation periods and the longer periods available to 
developing countries will be the subject of negotiations  once the basic structure of commitments in each 
of the three pillars has been clarified.  
   TN/AG/18 
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 SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT PROVISIONS UNDER CONSIDERATION 
BY THE GENERAL COUNCIL (RELEVANT SECTIONS OF TN/CTD/W/3/REV.2)  
Agreement on Agriculture  
Article 6.2 Proposal by the African Group (TN/CTD/W/3/Rev.2) 
48. It is understood that the perm itted subsidies under Article 6.2 shal l, be without limitation as to 
amount, and include any programmes in developing and least-developed country Members for, inter 
alia, promoting food security and rural developm ent, and assisting resource poor or low-income 
farmers. 
Article 14 
Proposal by the African Group (TN/CTD/W/3/Rev.2) 49. It is understood that measures covered by th e Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Measures shall not be used as disguise d restrictions against the trade of developing and 
least-developed country Members.  Members shall biannually report to the Committee on Agriculture 
any measures taken under the Agreement on the App lication of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures 
that affect any products from developi ng and least-developed country Members. 
Article 15.1 
Proposal by the African Group (TN/CTD/W/3/Rev.2) 
50. It is understood that where developed country Members are to take me asures of a special and 
differential treatment nature, they shall embody in their schedules of commitments or concessions 
specific special and differential treatment commitments in favour of developing and least-developed 
country Members, which shall be bi nding commitments.  It is further understood that this Decision shall 
be without prejudice to the acquis under any prefer ential regime governing th e exports of developing 
and least-developed country Member s by developed country Members. 
Article 15.2 
Proposal by the African Group (TN/CTD/W/3/Rev.2) 
51. It is understood that: 
 (a) transition periods under the Agreement sh all be extended for developing and country 
Members that face adjustment difficulties; and  
 (b) developing and least-developed country Me mbers shall have the right to modify their 
 commitments if this is found necessary to protect the public interest in ensuring food  security and alleviating rural poverty. 
 
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