Exactly what this means quantitatively is subject to judgment, challenge, and negotiation. All policies involve some amount of subsidy to agriculture, otherwise it would not matter if they were exempt or not. Limits on green box subsidies. There is currently no limit on the total amount of subsidy that can flow through individual green box policies. There is, also, no WTO limit on the total amount of green box expenditures.
Decoupled payments increase the wealth of farmers.
Role of blue box. Blue box policies are not market oriented because they reduce domestic and world output and increase prices by idling resources. When such policies negatively distort production, however, a country's export competitors may benefit. Product importers may then have to pay higher prices with decreases in output. Production may be increased in the future by these programs through risk reduction and increased wealth, especially if payments are larger than needed to compensate for resource idling.