1. The WTO-Ministerial Decisions at Nairobi (MC 10)
and the Agreement on Agriculture
Achim Seiler, Trade Consultant and Capacity Building Specialist, Kathmandu
EU-Project: Trade and Private Sector Development (TPSD)
TPSD is implemented by
in cooperation with
and

2. 1. The Decisions
The Nairobi Package contains a series of six Ministerial Decisions
on agriculture, cotton and issues related to least-developed
Countries:
Commitment to abolish export subsidies for farm exports
Decision on public stockholding for food security purposes
A special safeguard mechanism for developing countries
Measures related to cotton
Decision on preferential treatment for LDCs in the area of services
Criteria for determining whether exports from LDCs may benefit form trade preferences

3. 2: Background - The Agreement on Agriculture
Market Access (Art. 4 and 5)
Domestic Support (Art. 6 and 7)
Export Subsidies (Art. 8-11)
The Country Schedules

4. 3: Background: Market Access
Tariffication
Tariff-Reductions
Minimum Market Access
Special Safeguards Provisions
Special Treatment

5. 4: Domestic Support Amber Box (Art.6) Blue Box (Art. 6.5)
Green Box (Annex II)

6. 5: Domestic Support Peace Clause Coupled-up Coupled-down De-coupled
De minimis
Peace Clause

7. 6: Reduction Commitments
Exemptions:
Green Box
Blue Box
Developmental measures
De minimis

8. 7: Green Box Government service programs
e.g.: general services; public stockholding programs for food security purposes and domestic food aid; research; pest and disease-control programs; agricultural training services and extension and advisory services; inspection services; marketing and promotion services; infrastructural services; including electricity reticulation; roads and other means of transport, etc.)
Direct payments to producers
(decoupled from production, prices or factors of production)

9. 8: Blue Box Direct payments under production limiting programs
5 a) Direct payments under production-limiting programs shall not be subject to the commitment to reduce domestic support if:
Such payments are based on fixed area or yields, or
Such payments are made on 85 per cent or less of the base level of production; or
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”

10. 9: Developmental Measures
“...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. (Art. 6.2)

11. 11: De minimis
All domestic support measures in favor of agricultural producers that do not fit into any of the above exempt categories are subject to reduction commitments. However, under the de minimis provisions of the Agreement there is no requirement to reduce such trade-distorting domestic support in any year, in which the aggregate value of the product-specific support does not exceed 5 per cent of the total value of production of the agricultural product in question. In addition, non-product specific support which is less than 5 per cent of the value of total agricultural production is also exempt from reduction. The 5 per cent threshold applies to developed countries whereas in the case of developing countries the de minimis ceiling is 10 per cent.

12. 12: Government Support to Agriculture in the US and the EU
Million Euro/$US
EU 25
(2005/06)
EU27
(2013)
USA
(2005)
(2012)
Upper limit AMS
67.159
72.378
19.103
AMS
28.427
5.899
12.937
6.863
Blue Box
13.455
2.754
De minimis
1.250
1.780
117
4.962
Overall Total Domestic Support
43.123
10.433
13.055
11.825
Green Box
40.280
71.140
71.829
AMS = Aggregated Measurement of Support

13. 13: Government Support to Agriculture in India and China
Million $US
India
(2004/05)
(2010/11)
China
(2005)
(2010)
Upper limit AMS
Art. 6.2
10.689
31.610
Blue Box
13.455
De minimis
1.5
2.282
576
1.800
Green Box
6.183
24.520
3.800
7.800
AMS = Aggregated Measurement of Support

14. 14: The Ministerial Decision on Export Competition
Members reaffirm their commitment (...) to exercise utmost restraint with regard to any recourse to all forms of subsidies and all export measures with equivalent effect (Art. 1)
The regular sessions of the Committee on Agriculture shall review every three years the disciplines contained in this Decision, with the aim of enhancing disciplines to ensure that no circumvention threatens export subsidy elimination commitments and to prevent non-commercial transactions from being used to circumvent such commitments (Art. 5)

15. 15: The Ministerial Decision on Export Competition Export Subsidies
Developed Members shall immediately eliminate their remaining scheduled export subsidy entitlements as of the date od adoption of this Decision (Art. 6, exceptions in the footnote)
Developing country Members shall eliminate their export subsidy entitlements by the end of 2018 (Art. 7, exceptions in the footnote)

16. 16: The Ministerial Decision on Export Competition Export Subsidies
Developing country Members shall continue to benefit from the provisions of Art. 9.4 of the Agreement on Agriculture until the end of 2023, i.e. five years after the end-date for elimination of all forms of export subsidies.
Least developed countries and net-food importing countries listed in G/AG/5/Rev.10 shall continue to benefit from the provisions of Article 9.4 of the Agreement on Agriculture until the end of 2030 (Art. 8)

17. 17: The Ministerial Decision on Export Competition Export Subsidies
Agreement on Agriculture, Art. 9.4:
During the implementation period, developing country Members shall not be required to undertake commitments in respect of the export subsidies listed in subparagraphs (d) and (e) of paragraph 1 above, provided that these are not applied in a manner that would circumvent reduction commitments

18. 18: The Ministerial Decision on Export Competition Export Subsidies
Agreement on Agriculture, subparagraphs (d) and (e) of paragraph 1
d) the provision of subsidies to reduce the costs of marketing exports of agricultural products (other than widely available export promotion and advisory services) including handling, upgrading and other processing costs, and the costs of international transport and freight;
(e) internal transport and freight charges on export shipments, provided or mandated by governments, on terms more favourable than for domestic shipments

19. 19: The Ministerial Decision on Export Competition Export Subsidies
Elimination : Developed Members, (Art. 6)
Exception: Developed Members, Footnote 3
Elimination: Developing country Members, (Art. 7)
Exception: Developed Members, Footnote 4
1 Jan/2016
30 Sept 2017
30 Dec 2018
30 Dec 2020

20. 20: The Ministerial Decision on Export Competition Export Subsidies
Exception: Elimination : Developing country Members, Footnote 5
Extension of AoA Art. 9.4 in favor of Developing country Members (Art. 8)
Extension of AoA Art. 9.4 in favor of LDCs (Art. 8)
30 Dec 2022
30 Dec 2023
30 Dec 2030

21. 21: The Ministerial Decision on Export Competition Cotton
With regard to cotton, the disciplines and commitments contained In this Decision shall be immediately implemented as of the date of adoption of this Decision by developed country Members, and not later than January 2017 by developing country Members (Art. 12)

22. 22: The Ministerial Decision on Export Competition Export Credits, Export Credit Guarantees or Insurance Programs
In addition to complying with all other subsidy obligations under the Agreement on Agriculture and any other covered Agreements, Members undertake not to provide export credits, export credit guarantees or insurance programs for exports of products listed in Annex 1 of the Agreement on Agriculture (…) other than in conformity with this Decision.

23. 23: The Ministerial Decision on Export Competition Export Credits, Export Credit Guarantees or Insurance Programs
These export credits, export credit guarantees and insurance programs comprise:
direct financing support,
risk cover
government-to-government credit arrangements
any other form of governmental export credit support (Art. 13)

24. 24: The Ministerial Decision on Export Competition Special and Differential Treatment
Maximum repayment terms: the developing country Members concerned shall have a phase-in period of four years after the first day of the implementation period (footnote 9: ) by the end of which to fully implement the maximum repayment term of 18 months (Art. 16)

25. 25: The Ministerial Decision on Export Competition Special and Differential Treatment
…least-developed and net-food importing developing countries shall be accorded differential and more favorable treatment comprising allowance for a repayment term in respect of them of between 36 and 54 months, for the acquisition of basic foodstuffs. Should one of these Members face exceptional circumstances which still preclude financing normal levels of commercial imports of basic foodstuffs and/or in accessing loans granted by multilateral and/or regional financial institutions within these timeframes, it shall have an extension of such a time-frame. The standard monitoring and surveillance provisions, as resulting from this Decision, shall apply to these cases (Art. 17)