![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/untcsid/20140912110842im_/http://www.wto.org/images/300pxls.gif) Members,
Having
decided to establish a basis for initiating a process of reform of trade in
agriculture in line with the objectives of the negotiations as set out in the
Punta del Este Declaration;
Recalling
that their long-term objective as agreed at the Mid-Term Review of the Uruguay
Round “is to establish a fair and market-oriented agricultural trading
system and that a reform process should be initiated through the negotiation of
commitments on support and protection and through the establishment of
strengthened and more operationally effective GATT rules and disciplines”;
Recalling
further that “the above-mentioned long-term objective is to provide for
substantial progressive reductions in agricultural support and protection
sustained over an agreed period of time, resulting in correcting and preventing
restrictions and distortions in world agricultural markets”;
Committed
to achieving specific binding commitments in each of the following areas:
market access; domestic support; export
competition; and to reaching an
agreement on sanitary and phytosanitary issues;
Having
agreed that in implementing their commitments on market access, developed
country Members would take fully into account the particular needs and
conditions of developing country Members by providing for a greater improvement
of opportunities and terms of access for agricultural products of particular
interest to these Members, including the fullest liberalization of trade in
tropical agricultural products as agreed at the Mid-Term Review, and for
products of particular importance to the diversification of production from the
growing of illicit narcotic crops;
Noting
that commitments under the reform programme should be made in an equitable way
among all Members, having regard to non-trade concerns, including food security
and the need to protect the environment; having
regard to the agreement that special and differential treatment for developing
countries is an integral element of the negotiations, and taking into account
the possible negative effects of the implementation of the reform programme on
least-developed and net food-importing developing countries;
Hereby agree
as follows:
Part
I: Article 1 back to top
Definition of Terms
In this Agreement, unless the context otherwise requires:
(a)
“Aggregate Measurement of Support” and
“AMS” mean the
annual level of support, expressed in monetary terms, provided for an
agricultural product in favour of the producers of the basic agricultural
product or non-product-specific support provided in favour of agricultural
producers in general, other than support provided under programmes that qualify
as exempt from reduction under Annex 2 to this Agreement, which is:
(i)
with respect to support provided during the base period, specified in the
relevant tables of supporting material incorporated by reference in Part IV
of a Member’s Schedule; and
(ii)
with respect to support provided during any year of the implementation
period and thereafter, calculated in accordance with the provisions of Annex 3
of this Agreement and taking into account the constituent data and methodology
used in the tables of supporting material incorporated by reference in Part IV
of the Member’s Schedule;
(b)
“basic agricultural product” in relation to domestic support
commitments is defined as the product as close as practicable to the point of
first sale as specified in a Member’s Schedule and in the related supporting
material;
(c) “budgetary outlays” or “outlays”
includes revenue foregone;
(d)
“Equivalent Measurement of Support” means the annual level of
support, expressed in monetary terms, provided to producers of a basic
agricultural product through the application of one or more measures, the
calculation of which in accordance with the AMS methodology is impracticable,
other than support provided under programmes that qualify as exempt from
reduction under Annex 2 to this Agreement, and which is:
(i)
with respect to support provided during the base period, specified in the
relevant tables of supporting material incorporated by reference in Part IV
of a Member’s Schedule; and
(ii)
with respect to support provided during any year of the implementation
period and thereafter, calculated in accordance with the provisions of Annex 4
of this Agreement and taking into account the constituent data and methodology
used in the tables of supporting material incorporated by reference in Part IV
of the Member’s Schedule;
(e)
“export subsidies” refers to subsidies contingent upon export
performance, including the export subsidies listed in Article 9 of this
Agreement;
(f)
“implementation period” means the six-year period commencing in
the year 1995, except that, for the purposes of Article 13, it means the
nine-year period commencing in 1995;
(g)
“market access concessions” includes all market access
commitments undertaken pursuant to this Agreement;
(h)
“Total Aggregate Measurement of Support” and
“Total AMS”
mean the sum of all domestic support provided in favour of agricultural
producers, calculated as the sum of all aggregate measurements of support for
basic agricultural products, all non-product-specific aggregate measurements of
support and all equivalent measurements of support
for agricultural products, and which is:
(i)
with respect to support provided during the base period (i.e. the “Base Total AMS”) and the maximum support permitted to be provided
during any year of the implementation period or thereafter (i.e. the “Annual and Final Bound Commitment Levels”), as specified in Part IV
of a Member’s Schedule; and
(ii)
with respect to the level of support actually provided during any year of
the implementation period and thereafter (i.e.
the “Current Total AMS”), calculated in accordance with the
provisions of this Agreement, including Article 6, and with the constituent
data and methodology used in the tables of supporting material incorporated by
reference in Part IV of the Member’s Schedule;
(i)
“year” in paragraph (f) above and in relation to the specific
commitments of a Member refers to the calendar, financial or marketing year
specified in the Schedule relating to that Member.
Part
I: Article 2 back to top
Product
Coverage
This Agreement applies to the products listed in Annex 1 to this
Agreement, hereinafter referred to as agricultural products.
Part
II: Article 3
back to top
Incorporation of Concessions and Commitments
1.
The domestic support and export subsidy commitments in Part IV of
each Member’s Schedule constitute commitments limiting subsidization and are
hereby made an integral part of GATT 1994.
2.
Subject to the provisions of Article 6, a Member shall not provide
support in favour of domestic producers in excess of the commitment levels
specified in Section I of Part IV of its Schedule.
3.
Subject to the provisions of paragraphs 2(b) and 4 of Article 9,
a Member shall not provide export subsidies listed in paragraph 1 of
Article 9 in respect of the agricultural products or groups of products
specified in Section II of Part IV of its Schedule in excess of the
budgetary outlay and quantity commitment levels specified therein and shall not
provide such subsidies in respect of any agricultural product not specified in
that Section of its Schedule.
Part
III: Article
4 back to top
Market
Access
1.
Market access concessions contained in Schedules relate to bindings and
reductions of tariffs, and to other market access commitments as specified
therein.
2.
Members shall not maintain, resort to, or revert to any measures of the kind
which have been required to be converted into ordinary customs duties (1),
except as otherwise provided for in Article 5 and Annex 5.
Part
III: Article
5 back to top
Special Safeguard Provisions
1.
Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1(b) of Article II of GATT
1994, any Member may take recourse to the provisions of paragraphs 4 and 5 below
in connection with the importation of an agricultural product, in respect of
which measures referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 4 of this Agreement have
been converted into an ordinary customs duty and which is designated in its
Schedule with the symbol “SSG” as being the subject of a concession in
respect of which the provisions of this Article may be invoked, if:
(a)
the volume of imports of that product entering the customs territory of
the Member granting the concession during any year exceeds a trigger level which
relates to the existing market access opportunity as set out in paragraph 4;
or, but not concurrently:
(b)
the price at which imports of that product may enter the customs
territory of the Member granting the concession, as determined on the basis of
the c.i.f. import price of the shipment concerned expressed in terms of its
domestic currency, falls below a trigger price equal to the average 1986 to 1988
reference price(2)
for the product concerned.
2.
Imports under current and minimum access commitments established as part
of a concession referred to in paragraph 1 above shall be counted for the
purpose of determining the volume of imports required for invoking the
provisions of subparagraph 1(a) and paragraph 4, but imports under such
commitments shall not be affected by any additional duty imposed under either
subparagraph 1(a) and paragraph 4 or subparagraph 1(b) and paragraph 5
below.
3.
Any supplies of the product in question which were en
route on the basis of a contract settled before the additional duty is
imposed under subparagraph 1(a) and paragraph 4 shall be exempted from any such
additional duty, provided that they may be counted in the volume of imports of
the product in question during the following year for the purposes of triggering
the provisions of subparagraph 1(a) in that year.
4.
Any additional duty imposed under subparagraph 1(a) shall only be
maintained until the end of the year in which it has been imposed, and may only
be levied at a level which shall not exceed one third of the level of the
ordinary customs duty in effect in the year in which the action is taken.
The trigger level shall be set according to the following schedule based
on market access opportunities defined as imports as a percentage of the
corresponding domestic consumption(3)
during the three preceding years for
which data are available:
(a)
where such market access opportunities for a product are less than or
equal to 10 per cent, the base trigger level shall equal 125 per cent;
(b)
where such market access opportunities for a product are greater than 10 per
cent but less than or equal to 30 per cent, the base trigger level shall
equal 110 per cent;
(c)
where such market access opportunities for a product are greater than 30
per cent, the base trigger level shall equal 105 per cent.
In
all cases the additional duty may be imposed in any year where the absolute
volume of imports of the product concerned entering the customs territory of the
Member granting the concession exceeds the sum of (x)
the base trigger level set out above multiplied by the average quantity of
imports during the three preceding years for which data are available and (y)
the absolute volume change in domestic consumption of the product concerned in
the most recent year for which data are available compared to the preceding
year, provided that the trigger level shall not be less than 105 per cent
of the average quantity of imports in (x) above.
5.
The additional duty imposed under subparagraph 1(b) shall be set
according to the following schedule:
(a)
if the difference between the c.i.f. import price of the shipment
expressed in terms of the domestic currency (hereinafter referred to as the “import price”) and the trigger price as defined under that
subparagraph is less than or equal to 10 per cent of the trigger price, no
additional duty shall be imposed;
(b)
if the difference between the import price and the trigger price
(hereinafter referred to as the “difference”) is greater than 10 per cent
but less than or equal to 40 per cent of the trigger price, the
additional duty shall equal 30 per cent of the amount by which the difference
exceeds 10 per cent;
(c)
if the difference is greater than 40 per cent but less than or
equal to 60 per cent of the trigger price, the additional duty shall
equal 50 per cent of the amount by which the difference exceeds 40 per cent,
plus the additional duty allowed under (b);
(d)
if the difference is greater than 60 per cent but less than or equal
to 75 per cent, the additional duty shall equal 70 per cent of the
amount by which the difference exceeds 60 per cent of the trigger
price, plus the additional duties allowed under (b) and (c);
(e)
if the difference is greater than 75 per cent of the trigger
price, the additional duty shall equal 90 per cent of the amount by
which the difference exceeds 75 per cent, plus the additional duties
allowed under (b), (c) and (d).
6.
For perishable and seasonal products, the conditions set out above shall
be applied in such a manner as to take account of the specific characteristics
of such products. In particular, shorter
time periods under subparagraph 1(a) and paragraph 4 may be used in reference to
the corresponding periods in the base period and different reference prices for
different periods may be used under subparagraph 1(b).
7.
The operation of the special safeguard shall be carried out in a
transparent manner. Any Member
taking action under subparagraph 1(a) above shall give notice in
writing, including relevant data, to the Committee on Agriculture as far
in advance as may be practicable and in any event within 10 days of the
implementation of such action. In
cases where changes in consumption volumes must be allocated to individual
tariff lines subject to action under paragraph 4, relevant data shall
include the information and methods used to allocate these changes.
A Member taking action under paragraph 4 shall afford any
interested Members the opportunity to consult with it in respect of the
conditions of application of such action.
Any Member taking action under subparagraph 1(b) above shall give
notice in writing, including relevant data, to the Committee on
Agriculture within 10 days of the implementation of the first such
action or, for perishable and seasonal products, the first action in any
period. Members undertake, as far
as practicable, not to take recourse to the provisions of subparagraph 1(b)
where the volume of imports of the products concerned are declining.
In either case a Member taking such action shall afford any
interested Members the opportunity to consult with it in respect of the
conditions of application of such action.
8.
Where measures are taken in conformity with paragraphs 1
through 7 above, Members undertake not to have recourse, in respect of
such measures, to the provisions of paragraphs 1(a) and 3 of Article
XIX of GATT 1994 or paragraph 2 of Article 8 of the Agreement on
Safeguards.
9.
The provisions of this Article shall remain in force for the
duration of the reform process as determined under Article 20.
Part
IV: Article 6
back to top
Domestic
Support Commitments
1.
The domestic support reduction commitments of each Member contained
in Part IV of its Schedule shall apply to all of its domestic support
measures in favour of agricultural producers with the exception of
domestic measures which are not subject to reduction in terms of the
criteria set out in this Article and in Annex 2 to this Agreement.
The commitments are expressed in terms of Total Aggregate
Measurement of Support and
“Annual and Final Bound Commitment
Levels”.
2.
In accordance with the Mid-Term Review Agreement that government
measures of assistance, whether direct or indirect, to encourage
agricultural and rural development are an integral part of the development
programmes of developing countries, investment subsidies which are
generally available to agriculture in developing country Members and
agricultural input subsidies generally available to low-income or
resource-poor producers in developing country Members shall be exempt from
domestic support reduction commitments that would otherwise be applicable
to such measures, as shall domestic support to producers in developing
country Members to encourage diversification from growing illicit narcotic
crops. Domestic support meeting
the criteria of this paragraph shall not be required to be included in a
Member’s calculation of its Current Total AMS.
3.
A Member shall be considered to be in compliance with its domestic
support reduction commitments in any year in which its domestic support in
favour of agricultural producers expressed in terms of Current Total AMS
does not exceed the corresponding annual or final bound commitment level
specified in Part IV of the Member’s Schedule.
4.
(a) A Member shall not be required to include in the calculation of its
Current Total AMS and shall not be required to reduce:
(i)
product-specific domestic support which would otherwise be required to be included in a Member’s calculation of
its Current AMS where such support does not exceed 5 per cent of
that Member’s total value of production of a basic agricultural product
during the relevant year; and
(ii)
non-product-specific domestic support which would otherwise be
required to be included in a Member’s calculation of its Current AMS where
such support does not exceed 5 per cent of the value of that
Member’s total agricultural production.
(b) For developing country Members, the de
minimis percentage under this paragraph shall be 10 per cent.
5. (a) Direct payments under production-limiting programmes shall not be
subject to the commitment to reduce domestic support if:
(i)
such payments are based on fixed area and yields; or
(ii)
such payments are made on 85 per cent or less of the base
level of production; or
(iii)
livestock payments are made on a fixed number of head.
(b) The exemption from the reduction commitment for direct payments
meeting the above criteria shall be reflected by the exclusion of the
value of those direct payments in a Member’s calculation of its Current
Total AMS.
Part
IV: Article
7 back to top
General
Disciplines on Domestic Support
1.
Each Member shall ensure that any domestic support measures in
favour of agricultural producers which are not subject to reduction
commitments because they qualify under the criteria set out in Annex 2
to this Agreement are maintained in conformity therewith.
2.
(a) Any domestic support measure in favour of agricultural producers,
including any modification to such measure, and any measure that is
subsequently introduced that cannot be shown to satisfy the criteria in
Annex 2 to this Agreement or to be exempt from reduction by reason of
any other provision of this Agreement shall be included in the Member’s
calculation of its Current Total AMS.
(b)
Where no Total AMS commitment exists in Part IV of a Member’s
Schedule, the Member shall not provide support to agricultural producers
in excess of the relevant de minimis level set
out in paragraph 4 of Article 6.
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