Domestic Support. 1. The Parties recognize that domestic support measures can be of crucial importance to their agricultural sectors but may also have trade distorting effects and effects on production. If a Party supports its agricultural producers, the Party shall consider domestic support measures that have no, or at most minimal, trade distorting effects or effects on production.
Domestic Support. The domestic support for agricultural goods of each Signatory Party shall be consistent with the provisions of the Agreement on Agriculture, which forms part of the WTO Agreement and to the disciplines established within the framework of future multilateral negotiations in that field.
Domestic Support. The Parties recognize that domestic support measures can be of crucial importance to their agricultural sectors but may also have trade distorting and production effects and that domestic support reduction commitments may result from agricultural multilateral trade negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Accordingly, where a Party supports its agricultural producers, that Party should endeavor to work toward domestic support measures that:
Domestic Support. 1. China shall respect its WTO obligations to publish in an official journal its laws, regulations, and other measures pertaining to its domestic support programs and policies.
Domestic Support. CALCULATION OF AGGREGATE MEASUREMENT OF SUPPORT
Domestic Support. Next provision of WTO is domestic support. It aims largely at the developed economies where the level of domestic agriculture support has increased extremely high levels in recent years. There are five categories in domestic support provision of WTO 248 Aggregate Measurement of Support (AMS): Measure of the monetary value of the extent of government support to a sector. The AMS, as defined in the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture, includes both budgetary outlays as well as revenue transfers from consumers to producers as a result of policies that distort market prices. The AMS includes actual or calculated amounts of direct payments to producers (such as deficiency payments), input subsidies, the estimated value of revenue transferred from consumers to producers as a result of policies that distort market prices (market price supports),and interest subsidies on commodity loan programs. The total aggregate measurement of support which is expressed as a part of the value of agricultural output and includes both product and non-product specific support. Product specific or subsidy refers to the total level of support provided for each individual agricultural commodities essentially specified by procurement price. Non - Product specific support or subsidy on the other hand refers to the agriculture as a whole i.e. subsidy on inputs such as fertilizers, electricity, irrigation, seeds credit etc. Domestic support given to the agriculture sector up to 10 per cent of the total value of the produce in developing countries is allowed. Blue Box Support: The blue box measures refer to the direct payments are solely related to income and not to either the level production or prices. It represents the set of provisions in the Agreement on Agriculture that exempts from reduction commitments those payments from production-limiting programs. Green Box Support: It refers to different forms of direct payments to producers, infrastructural services, pest control, market information, which are clubbed under the head green box support and is exempted from reduction commitments. De-minimis Support: When aggregate measurement is below 10 per cent, product specific and non-specific de-minimum ceiling may be raised to those lands. Other important provisions of WTO Special and Differential Treatment (S and D): A principle allowing developing countries to have lesser reduction commitments than developed countries. In the Uruguay Round, disciplines applying to developing and leas...
Domestic Support. The July Framework foresees: • Substantial reductions in distorting supports. Those countries with higher levels are to make deeper cuts from “bound” rates. • Amber Box (“final bound total AMS”) supports will also be cut using a tiered formula, so that higher supports have steeper cuts.
Domestic Support. The WTO tries to strike a balance between liberalising and reducing governmental support. The Agreement has categorised the domestic support in two categories wherein one category lists down those that distort trade and other which does not. The support that does not distort trade or that which minimally does has been included in the “Green Box”. Those listed in this box are allowed without any limit. It covers the government service programmes and direct payments. It includes special treatment for developing countries as a part of their development programmes. The “Blue Box” includes the measures that reduce the impact partially by limiting production. Such support that distorts trade is included in the “Amber Box”. This support stays within the limit. However, all countries are allowed a minimum amount of support known as “de minimis” even if it distorts trade. However, the support stays within a percentage of the value production.3
Domestic Support. 3.9 The AoA rules categorise agricultural domestic support into mainly two categories: (i) support with no, or minimal, distortive effect on trade (commonly referred to as “Green Box” measures) and (ii) trade-distorting support (also referred to as “Amber Box” measures). Accordingly, certain categories of domestic support to agriculture are exempt from reduction commitments. These include domestic support measures which meet the criteria specified in Annex 2 of the AoA ( commonly referred to as Green Box support), and development programmes that meet the requirements of Article 6.2 of the AoA . The latter category of measures includes investment subsidies generally available to agriculture, input subsidies generally available to low-income or resource-poor producers and support to encourage diversification from growing illicit narcotic crops. GREEN BOX SUPPORT
Domestic Support. 4.7 India did not have any agricultural support of the nature that was required to be reduced during the period prior to 1.1.1995, i.e. the date of establishment of the WTO. Under the AoA, therefore, India did not have any reduction commitments. But this does not mean that India has no obligations. In the case of Members like India, without reduction commitments, any domestic support not covered in the exempted categories under the AOA, must be maintained within “product-specific” and “non- product-specific” de minimis levels. Putting it another way, it also means that while Members who had reduction commitments in the Uruguay Round can continue to provide support upto the scheduled limit of the last year of the Uruguay Round implementation period, others have to remain within the de minimis limits.
