Why are detailed notification requirements and formats used in the
field of agriculture?
Why does the Committee on Agriculture need them?
This stems from the Committee’s overseeing functions, as laid out
in Article 18 of the Agreement on Agriculture and the terms of
reference contained in the Decision by the General Council on 31
January 1995 (WT/L/43).
In June 1995, the Committee on Agriculture adopted detailed
notification requirements and formats, in order to facilitate the
Review Process to be undertaken at each formal meeting. These are
contained in documents
G/AG/2 and
G/AG/2/Add.1.
The scope of the notification requirements in the field of
agriculture covers the following five distinct areas:
1.
Market access, in relation to:
2. Domestic support, in relation to:
the Current Total Aggregate Measurement of Support (AMS)
the introduction of new, or modification of, domestic support
measures for which an exemption from reduction commitments is
claimed
3. Export subsidies and anti-circumvention of export subsidy rules
4. Export prohibitions or restrictions
5. Implementation of the Decision on Measures Concerning the
Possible Negative Effects of the Reform Programme on Least-Developed
and Net Food-Importing Developing Countries (NFIDC Decision).
In many cases only a limited number of notification requirements
will apply for a particular WTO member. This is because they largely
depend on the specific commitments as set out in each member's
Schedule of commitments, as well as on the actions that may be taken
by that member in any given implementation year.
Some notification requirements are periodic. They are to be
regularly submitted to the Committee on Agriculture in line with the
frequency and deadlines established in
G/AG/2.
Some notification requirements are ad hoc. Notifications become due
only where a specific measure is introduced, or about to be
introduced. The attached summary table
pdf presents an
overview of
various notification obligations.
As part of its monitoring functions, the Committee reviews members’
implementation of the commitments on the basis of members’
notifications (see also
G/AG/1). To strengthen the effectiveness of
the Review Process undertaken by the Committee on Agriculture,
members recognize the need to improve the timeliness and
completeness of notifications in accordance with the adopted
procedures and formats.
The training module has been prepared by the WTO Secretariat in response to
such needs. The content has been organized into six section covering
the above-mentioned notification requirements. Test questions have been included under
each section.
1. Notification requirements in relation to tariff and other
quotas (Table MA:1 and Table MA:2) pdf
2. Notification requirements in relation to special safeguards
(Table MA:3 to MA:5) pdf
3. Notification requirements in relation to domestic support
(Table DS:1 and Table DS:2) pdf
4. Notification requirements in relation to export subsidies
(Table ES:1 to ES:3) pdf
5. Notification requirements in relation to export prohibitions
or restrictions (Table ER:1) pdf
6. Notification requirements in relation to the NFIDC Decision(3)
(Table NF:1) pdf
> Test summary
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