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News 

See news on the agriculture negotiations 
See news on cotton 

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Introduction 

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.

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Committee on Agriculture

The Committee on Agriculture oversees the implementation of the Agreement on agriculture and provides a forum for members to raise and address related questions and concerns. The current chair is .

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Agriculture negotiations

Agricultural trade reform did not end with the birth of the Agriculture Agreement. WTO members are continuing to negotiate agricultural trade reform.

WTO members adopted important decisions on agriculture at the 2015 WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi, Kenya. These include a commitment to abolish subsidies for farm exports as well as decisions on public stockholding for food security purposes, on a special safeguard mechanism for developing countries, and on trade rules for cotton.

At the 2013 WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali, Indonesia, ministers also agreed on a package of issues in agriculture.

Cotton

Cotton is discussed at the WTO on two tracks: 1) the trade reforms needed to address subsidies and high trade barriers for cotton, and 2) the assistance provided to the cotton sector in developing countries.

Food security

The WTO Agreement on Agriculture explicitly recognises the need to take account of food security — both in the commitments that WTO members have made, and in ongoing negotiations.

• Trade Dialogues on Food

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COVID-19 and agriculture

• COVID-19: Agricultural measures
• WTO members' proposals on COVID-19
• Submissions by intergovernmental organizations

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Find out more

Introduction to agricultural trade in the WTO
Links to the agriculture section of the WTO guide “Understanding the WTO”

Summary of the Agriculture Agreement
A technical summary

Explanation of the Agriculture Agreement
A more detailed 8-part technical introduction