Chapter-7-Agriculture-Agreement.ppt

1、Chapter 7 Agriculture Agreement,Xing Yao International Business School,Content,Introduction Basic principles on agricultural products Specific commitments relative to trade of agricultural products Special safeguard measures of agricultural products Case,1.Introduction,The volume of world agricultur

2、e exports has substantially 大體上increased over recent decades. Agricultural trade remains in many countries an important part of overall economic activity and continues to play a major role in domestic agricultural production and employment. Although agriculture has always been covered by the GATT, p

3、rior to WTO there were several important differences with respect to關于 the rules that applied to agricultural primary products as opposed to industrial products.,In the aftermath余波 of the second world war, many governments were concerned primarily with increasing domestic agricultural productions so

4、 as to feed their growing populations. In the lead-up to the Uruguay Round烏拉圭回合 negotiations, the causes起因 of disarray混亂 in world agriculture went beyond超越 import access problems which has been the traditional focus of GATT negotiations.,The agricultural negotiations in the Uruguay Round were by no

5、means絕不 easy. The agreement on agriculture and the agreement on the application of sanitary and phytosanitary measures 衛(wèi)生與動植物檢疫措施were negotiated in parallel并列的. The WTOs agriculture agreement was negotiated in the 1986-1994 Uruguay Round and came into force生效 on January 1, 1995.,The Uruguay Round pr

6、oduced the first “multilateral agreement” dedicated to the sector. It was a significant first step towards order, fair competition and a less distorted sector.,Relationship with other WTO agreements,In principle, all WTO agreements and understandings諒解，協議 on trade in goods apply to agriculture. Howe

7、ver, where there is any conflict between these agreements and the agreement on agriculture, the provisions of the agreement on agriculture prevail.,Product coverage,The agreement defines in its Annex 1 agriculture products by reference to the HS of product classification. The definition covers not o

8、nly basic agricultural products such as wheat and animals, but also the products derived from them such as bread, butter and meat, as well as all processed加工的 agricultural products such as chocolate and sausages香腸. Fish and fish products are not includes, nor are the forestry林業(yè) products.,Rules and c

9、ommitments,The agreement on agriculture establishes a number of generally applicable rules with regard to trade-related agricultural measures, primarily in the areas of market assess市場準入, domestic support 國內支持and export competition出口競爭. These rules related to country-specific國別的 commitments are cont

10、ained in the individual country schedules of the WTO members.,Implementation period,The implementation period for the country-specific commitments is the six-year period commencing開始 in 1995. However, developing countries have the flexibility to implement commitments over a period up to 10. The Urug

11、uay Round agreement included a commitment to continue the reform through new negotiations. These were launched in 2000, as required by the Agriculture Agreement.,Committee on agriculture,The agreement established a committee委員會 on agriculture. The committee usually meets four times per year. Special

12、 meetings can be convened召集 if necessary. Agreement on Agriculture is divided into 13 parts, 21 articles and 5 annexes.,2. Basic principles on agricultural products,Establish a fair and market-oriented 以市場為導向的agricultural trading system. Provide for substantial progressive reductions in agricultural

13、 support and protection, correct and prevent restrictions and distortions扭曲 in world agricultural markets. Achieve specific binding有約束力的 commitments in the area of market assess, domestic support and export competition.,Provide for a greater較大的 improvement of opportunities and term of assess for agr

14、icultural products of particular interest to developing countries. Pertinent 相關的commitments should be made in an equitable公平的 way among all members, having regard to non-trade concerns非貿易關注, including food security and the need to protect the environment and to special and differential差別 treatment f

15、or developing countries.,3.Specific commitments relative to trade of agricultural products,The original GATT did apply to agricultural trade, but it contained loopholes漏洞. For example, it allowed countries to use some non-tariff measures such as import quotas, and to subsidize. Agricultural trade be

16、came highly distorted扭曲的, especially with the use of export subsidies which would not normally have been allowed for industrial products.,3.1 The Agriculture Agreement: new rules and commitments,The objective 目標of the Agriculture Agreement is to reform trade in the sector and to make policies more m

17、arket-oriented. This would improve predictability可預測性的 and security for importing and exporting countries alike. The new rules and commitments apply to: market access市場準入 various trade restrictions confronting imports domestic support subsidies and other programmes, including those that raise or gua

18、rantee farmgate prices and farmers incomes export subsidies and other methods used to make exports artificially人為地 competitive.,3.2 Market access: tariffs only, please,The new rule for market access in agricultural products is “tariffs only”. Before the Uruguay Round, some agricultural imports were

19、restricted by quotas and other non-tariff measures. These have been replaced by tariffs that provide more-or-less equivalent levels of protection. If the previous policy meant domestic prices were 75% higher than world prices, then the new tariff could be around 75%. “Tariffication關稅化”: Converting t

20、he quotas and other types of measures to tariffs in this way,The newly committed受約束的 tariffs and tariff quotas, covering all agricultural products, took effect in 1995. Uruguay Round participants agreed that developed countries would cut the tariffs (the higher out-of-quota rates in the case of tari

21、ff-quotas) by an average of 36%, in equal steps over six years.,Developing countries would make 24% cuts over 10 years. Least-developed countries do not have to cut their tariffs. (These figures do not actually appear in the Agriculture Agreement. Participants used them to prepare their schedules i.

22、e. lists of commitments. It is the commitments listed in the schedules that are legally binding.),For products whose non-tariff restrictions have been converted to tariffs, governments are allowed to take special emergency actions (“special safeguards”) in order to prevent swiftly很快的 falling prices

23、or surges in imports from hurting their farmers. But the agreement specifies指定 when and how those emergency actions can be introduced (for example, they cannot be used on imports within a tariff-quota).,The applying of SSG,A member ever taking such kinds of measures on the importation of its agricul

24、tural products as minimum import prices, discretionary import licensing有差別的進口許可, voluntary export restraints 自動出口限制and otherwise which have been converted into an ordinary customs duty普通關稅 may implement special safeguard measures. The products bound are marked in the members schedule with the symbol

25、 “SSG” as being the subject of a market assess concession.,Satisfy one of the following conditions:,Condition I: the volume of imports of that product during any year exceeds a trigger觸發(fā)水平 level. i.e. imports as a percentage of corresponding相當的 domestic consumption during the three preceding year 之前

26、的三年for which data are available, which relates to the existing market access opportunity.,Satisfy one of the following conditions:,Condition II: The CIF import price, expressed in terms of its domestic currency, of that product falls bellow a trigger price equal to the average 1986-1988 reference pr

27、ice for the product concerned.,Four countries used “special treatment” provisions to restrict imports of particularly sensitive products (mainly rice) during the implementation period (to 2000 for developed countries, to 2004 for developing nations), but subject to 遭受strictly defined conditions, inc

28、luding minimum access for overseas suppliers.,The four were: Japan, Rep. of Korea, and the Philippines for rice; and Israel以色列 for sheepmeat羊肉, whole milk powder and certain cheeses. Japan and Israel have now given up this right, but a new member, Chinese Taipei, has joined Rep. of Korea and the Phi

29、lippines with special treatment for rice.,3.3 Domestic support: some you can, some you cant,The main complaint about policies which support domestic prices, or subsidize production in some other way, is that they encourage over-production. This squeezes out排除 imports or leads to export subsidies and

30、 low-priced dumping on world markets. The Agriculture Agreement distinguishes between support programmes that stimulate production directly, and those that are considered to have no direct effect.,“Amber box黃箱補貼” subsidy,Amber box: a reference to the amber colour of traffic lights, which means “slow

31、 down”. Domestic policies belong to “amber box” do have a direct effect on production and trade have to be cut back. WTO members calculated how much support of this kind they were providing per year for the agricultural sector (using calculations known as “total aggregate measurement of support” or

32、“Total AMS”) in the base years of 1986-88.,Aggregate Measurement of Support, AMS,Aggregate Measurement of Support (AMS, 綜合支持量) means the annual level of support, expressed in monetary terms, provided for an agricultural product in favor of 有利于agricultural producers.,Total AMS （綜合支持總量）,Total AMS mean

33、s the sum of all domestic support provided in favor of agricultural producers, calculated as the sum of all aggregate measurements of support.,Developed countries agreed to reduce these figures by 20% over six years starting in 1995. Developing countries agreed to make 13% cuts over 10 years. Least-

34、developed countries do not need to make any cuts.,“Green Box” Subsidy,Measures with minimal impact on trade can be used freely they are in a “green box” (“green” as in traffic lights). They include government services, such as research, disease control, infrastructure 基礎設施and food security. They als

35、o include payments支付 made directly to farmers that do not stimulate production, such as certain forms of direct income support, assistance to help farmers restructure agriculture, and direct payments under environmental and regional assistance programmes.,“Blue Box” Subsidy,Blue box subsidy, also pe

36、rmitted, are certain direct payments to farmers where the farmers are required to limit production . It is permitted that certain government assistance programmes to encourage agricultural and rural development in developing countries, and other support on a small scale when compared with the total

37、value of the product or products supported (5% or less in the case of developed countries and 10% or less for developing countries).,3.4 Export subsidies: limits on spending and quantities,The Agriculture Agreement prohibits export subsidies on agricultural products unless the subsidies are specifie

38、d in a members lists of commitments. Where they are listed, the agreement requires WTO members to cut both the amount of money they spend on export subsidies and the quantities of exports that receive subsidies.,Taking averages for 1986-90 as the base level, developed countries agreed to cut the val

39、ue of export subsidies by 36% over the six years starting in 1995 (24% over 10 years for developing countries). Developed countries also agreed to reduce the quantities of subsidized exports by 21% over the six years (14% over 10 years for developing countries). Least-developed countries do not need to make any cuts. During the six-year implementation period, developing countries are allowed under certain conditions to use subsidies to reduce the costs of marketing and transporting銷售和運輸 exports.,Export subsidies,the provision by govern