Agreement on Agriculture at WTO

Agreement on Agriculture at WTO

Subject – Economy

Context – WTO agri agreement tilted against developing nations: Piyush Goyal

Concept –

• The Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) is a World Trade Organisation treaty that focuses on reducing the agricultural support and subsidies given to domestic producers by countries. It is one of the most contentious agreements within the WTO.
• The Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) is a WTO treaty that was negotiated during the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and formally ratified in 1994 at Marrakesh, Morocco. The AoA came into effect in 1995.
• According to its provisions, developing countries were to complete their reduction commitments by 2000 and developing countries by 2004.
• The Least Developed Countries were not required to make any reductions.
• The Agreement covers products that are normally considered part of agriculture but excludes forestry and fishery products and also rubber, sisal, jute, coir and abaca.
• The focus of the AoA is the elimination of what are called “trade distorting” agricultural subsidies.
• According to the WTO, the overall aim of the Agreement is “to establish a fairer trading system that will increase market access and improve the livelihoods of farmers around the world.”

The WTO Agriculture Agreement provides a framework for the long-term reform of agricultural trade and domestic policies, with the aim of leading to fairer competition and a less distorted sector.

The Agreement covers:

• Market access — the use of trade restrictions, such as tariffs on imports
• Domestic support — the use of subsidies and other support programmes that directly stimulate production and distort trade
• Export competition — the use of export subsidies and other government support programmes that subsidize exports.

Under the Agreement, WTO members agree to “schedules” or lists of commitments that set limits on the tariffs they can apply to individual products and on levels of domestic support and export subsidies.