27 March 2001

Committee on Agriculture
Special Session

Work programme for the second phase of the negotiations for continuing the reform process under Article 20 of the agreement on agriculture

• Nature and scope of Work Programme: work in depth on all issues and options for policy reform set out in Members' proposals, with further elaboration as appropriate.

• Basis of work: Article 20, negotiating proposals submitted by Members and their additional elaborated proposals.  

• Special and differential treatment is an integral part of all elements of the negotiations.

• Organisation of Work Programme: work to be conducted in informal and formal meetings of the Special Sessions; Chair to prepare reports on the informal meetings and prepare annotated agendas ahead of the meetings.  

• Sequencing of Work Programme and Timetable: three Special Session meetings to be held back-to-back with the regular meetings of the Committee on Agriculture in September and December 2001 and in March 2002 (each of these Special Sessions would convene informally and conclude with short formal meetings), plus three informal Special Session meetings in May and July 2001 and in February 2002. Any additional meetings would be scheduled by the Chair after consultations with Members.  

• Review of progress of the negotiations shall take place in the formal March 2002 meeting.

Without prejudice to Article 20, which details the objective of the negotiations and the factors to be taken into account, the Chair recommends the following list of trade and non-trade issues drawn from Members' proposals for the first two/three meetings:

Tariff quota administration
Tariffs
Amber Box
Export subsidies
Export credits
State trading enterprises
Export restrictions
Food security
Food safety
Rural development

The foregoing work programme is adopted without prejudice to the decisions that may be taken at the fourth Ministerial Conference.