RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/AG/NG/S/15
19 September 2000
(00-3695)
Committee on Agriculture
Special SessionOriginal:  English
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION VALUES
Background Paper by the Secretariat
1. At the second Special Session of the Committee on Agriculture on 29-30 June 2000, it was
agreed that the Secretariat would provide information concerning the "value of total agricultural
production by Member" (paragraph 7(i) of G/AG/ NG/2).  The present background paper responds to
this request.
2. To date, fourteen Members (counting the EC as one) have provided in their domestic support
notifications data with respect to the value of total agricultural production.   These data were generally
provided in connection with de minimis  calculations regarding the non-product-specific AMS.1
Table 1 shows the agricultural production values in the currency used by the Member concerned.  It
may be noted that accounting concepts and methodologies used in estimating agricultural production
values may differ among Members.2  In Table 2 the values of total agricultural production have been
converted into US dollars using the exchange rates as reported by the IMF in "International Financial
Statistics" (March 2000) or notified by Members (Attachment to this paper refers).3
3. The WTO Secretariat has been in contact w ith other international intergovernmental
organizations to inquire what other data sources are available.  For OECD members, data regarding
the value of total agricultural production are avai lable in the annual OECD publication "Agricultural
Policies in OECD Countries, Monitoring and Ev aluation".  The OECD publications aside, other
relevant sources, such as the World Bank's World Development Indicators, generally provide datawith respect to agricultural GDP rather than the value of total agricultural production.
4   The FAO has
responded that an aggregate measure (the "Total Value of Primary Agricultural Products") will be
estimated at farmgate prices for developed and developing countries.  The results of this exercise can
be expected by November 2000.
                                                     
1 In the case of Brazil and Korea the information pr ovided regarding the value of total agricultural
production has been reproduced in attachments to the summary reports of the Committee meetings.
2 For example, in the case of Canada the notified values are equal to farm cash receipts plus price-
related direct payments.
3 As a result of currency fluctuations, in many cases the year-to-year changes of the production values
in domestic currency do not correspond to the year-to-year changes of these values in US dollars.
4 Agricultural GDP and the value of total agri cultural production are two different concepts.
Agricultural GDP (i.e. the value added of agriculture) is derived by deducting from the (gross) value of total
agricultural production, the total value of goods and services used in agricultural production.G/AG/NG/S/15
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Table 1 -  Total value of agricultural production as notified by Members, 1995-1999
Member Currency unit 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Australia A$ million 27,422.0 28,534.0
Brazil R$ million 50,860.9 50,454.0 62,863.4
Canada CDN$ million 25,816.4 28,051.2
Chile Ch$ billion 2,023.0 2,008.7 2,078.0
EC Ecu billion 207.4 219.7 217.8
Hungary Ft billion 751.0
India US$ billion 76,736.0
Israel US$ million 3,474.1 3,711.0 3,522.5 3,532.9
Japan Yen billion 10,434.1 10,248.9 9,831.6
Korea Won billion 26,645.4 28,965.2 30,270.6
Peru US$ million 3,985.0 4,584.0 4,448.0
South Africa Rand million 31,180.3 35,503.9 47,728.0 42,702.0
United States US$ million 190,110.0 205,701.0 203,884.0
Uruguay UR$ million 19,724.1 20,605.2 24,455.3
Note:  Blanks indicate "not available".
Table 2 -  Total value of agricultural production by Member, 1995-1999 (million US$)
Member 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Australia 18,832.1 18,186.1
Brazil 55,518.9 50,198.0 58,352.7
Canada 18,811.1 20,572.9
Chile 4,824.7 4,363.9 4,084.2
EC 271,299.9 278,579.6 247,007.0
Hungary 5,975.8
India 76,736.0
Israel 3,474.1 3,711.0 3,522.5 3,532.9
Japan 108,189.3 90,992.1 80,128.4
Korea 34,547.4 36,006.2 31,820.6
Peru 3,985.0 4,584.0 4,448.0
South Africa 8,589.6 8,256.7 10,353.1 7,724.3
United States 190,110.0 205,701.0 203,884.0
Uruguay 2,474.8 2,181.4 2,326.9
Note:  Blanks indicate "not available".G/AG/NG/S/15
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Attachment
Technical Notes
In what follows "na" denotes not applicable.
Australia
Notified for marketing year (July to June).
The exchange rates are annual averages of two consecutive calendar years beginning with 1997:
Unit of exchange rate 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
US$ / A$ na na 0.6868 0.6374 na
Brazil
Unit of exchange rate 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
R$ / US$ 0.9161 1.0051 1.0773 na na
Canada
Notified for calendar year.
Unit of exchange rate 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
CDN / US$ 1.3724 1.3635 na na na
Chile
Notified for calendar year.
Unit of exchange rate 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
 pesos / US$ na na 420.3 460.3 508.78
European Communities
Unit of exchange rate 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
 US$ / Ecu 1.3081 1.268 1.1341 na na
Hungary
Unit of exchange rate 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
 forint / US$ 125.681 na na na na
India
Notified in US dollars.G/AG/NG/S/15
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Israel
Notified in US dollars.
Japan
Notified for fiscal year beginning in April.
The exchange rates are, respectively, averages of the 2nd quarter of the year indicated to the 1st quarter
of the next year:
Unit of exchange rate 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
 Yen / US$ 96.443 112.635 122.698 na na
Korea
Unit of exchange rate 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Won / US$ 771.27 804.45 951.29 1,401.44 na
Peru
Notified in US dollars.
South Africa
Unit of exchange rate 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
 Rand / US$ 3.63 4.30 4.61 5.53 na
Uruguay
Notified in UR$ and US dollars.
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