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TERM |
DEFINITION |
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Aggregate
measure of support for agricultural production (AMS)
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The AMS refers to an index that
measures the monetary value of the extent of government support to a
sector. The AMS, as defined in the WTO 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. |
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Amber box of domestic support measures (WTO Agreement on
Agriculture) |
For agriculture, the domestic support
measures considered to distort production and trade (with some
exceptions) are classified under a category called amber box. Under
the WTO Agreement on Agriculture, countries adopted commitments to
reduce the total value of these measures. |
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Blue box of domestic support measures (WTO Agreement on
Agriculture) |
These measures refer to government
support payments directly linked to the use of acreage or number of
animals in agricultural production. It includes schemes which limit
production by imposing production quotas or requiring farmers to set
aside part of their land. The few countries using these subsidies
argue these subsidies distort trade less than alternative amber box
subsidies. These types of measures are exemptions from the general
rule that all subsidies linked to production must be reduced or kept
within defined minimal (“de minimis”) levels. |
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Cairns Group of Agriculture Exporting Countries
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A group of nations formed in 1986 at
Cairns, Australia. The group seeks the removal of trade barriers and
substantial reductions in subsidies affecting agricultural trade.
These goals were in response to depressed commodity prices and
reduced export earnings stemming from subsidy controversies. The
members account for a significant portion of the world’s
agricultural exports. The group includes major food exporters from
both developed and developing countries: Argentina, Australia,
Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Hungary, Indonesia, Malaysia, New
Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand, and Uruguay. The Cairns Group
was a strong coalition in the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade
negotiations. |
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Codex
Alimentarius Commission |
The Codex Alimentarius Commission was
created in 1963 by FAO and The World Health Organization (WHO) to
develop food standards, guidelines and related texts such as codes
of practice under the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme. The
main purposes of this Programme are protecting health of the
consumers and ensuring fair trade practices in the food trade, and
promoting coordination of all food standards work undertaken by
international governmental and non-governmental organizations.
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Common Agriculture Policy of the European Union (CAP)
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The CAP defines the European Union’s
agriculture policy and is comprised of a set of rules and
mechanisms, which regulate the production, trade and processing of
agricultural products in the EU, with attention being focused
increasingly on rural development. Among the European Union's
policies, the CAP is regarded as one of the most important policy
areas. |
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Decoupled income
support |
Decoupled income support programs refer
to payments to farmers which are not linked to current production
decisions. In this manner, when payments are decoupled, they are
directed to support farmers’ income so farmers make production
decisions based on expected market returns. |
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Deficiency payments to
support agricultural production |
Policies to complement a price support
system where the government guarantees that producers would receive
a fixed target price each year. In such a system, market prices are
allowed to be determined by supply and demand. The difference
between market prices and target prices is made up by a government
payment directly to producers. |
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Domestic support measures for
agricultural production |
Subsidies granted for the domestic
production of agricultural goods. These subsidies are granted for
the benefit of products regardless of whether those products are
exported or not. |
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Export
credits on agricultural products |
Governments provide official export
credits through Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) in support of national
exporters competing for overseas sales. ECAs provide credits to
foreign buyers either directly or via private financial institutions
benefiting from their insurance or guarantee cover. ECAs can be
government institutions or private companies operating on behalf of
the government. This system refers, therefore, to selling exports on
credit rather than for cash payment. Many countries promote exports
by providing either subsidized export credit or guarantees on more
favorable terms than can be obtained commercially. |
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Export taxes
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This refers to taxes that are imposed
on export products. They can be collected directly from exporters or
indirectly through a government marketing board that pays producers
a price lower than the world price. In this manner, the export tax
forces the price in the exporting country below the world price by
the amount of the tax. |
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Export subsidies on
agricultural products |
Export subsidies are special incentives
provided by governments on products destined for foreign markets to
encourage increased foreign sales. Accordingly, export subsidies
refer to subsidies which are contingent on export performance. They
may take the form of, for example, cash payments, disposal of
government stocks at below-market prices, subsidies financed by
producers or processors as a result of government actions such as
assessments, marketing subsidies, transportation and freight
subsidies, and subsidies for commodities contingent on their
incorporation in exported products. |
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Food
aid
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Food aid refers to shipments of food
commodities from donor to recipient countries on a total-grant basis
or on highly concessional terms. |
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Genetically modified
agricultural products |
The modification of the genetic
characteristics of a microorganism, plant or animal by inserting a
modified gene or a gene from another variety or species. Genetically
modified organisms (GMOs) may be microorganisms designed for use as
biopesticides or seeds that have been altered genetically to give a
plant better disease resistance or growth. |
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Green box of domestic support measures (WTO Agreement on
Agriculture) |
Green box domestic support measures
refer to measures that are considered to have minimum or no effect
on trade. They include support measures such as research, extension,
food security stocks, disaster payments, and structural adjustment
programs. Green box measures are not subject to reduction
commitments under the WTO Agreement on Agriculture. |
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Price bands
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This is a policy instrument that
introduces a duty to protect or buffer the domestic market from
lower international prices. It consists of setting upper and lower
levels of prices of imported commodities (the band) to decide on the
application of a compensatory mechanism (e.g. tariff duties) in
cases when the international price of a given agriculture product
falls below the lower price band level. |
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Risk assessment
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Risk assessment refers to procedures to
evaluate the likelihood of entry, establishment or spread of a pest
or disease within the territory of an importing country according to
the sanitary or phytosanitary measures which might be applied, and
of the associated potential biological and economic consequences; or
the evaluation of the potential for adverse effects on human or
animal health arising from the presence of additives, contaminants,
toxins or disease-causing organisms in food, beverages or
feedstuffs. |
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Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS)
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Any measure applied: (i) to protect
animal or plant life or health within the territory of a country
from risks arising from the entry, establishment or spread of pests,
diseases, disease-carrying organisms or disease-causing organisms;
(ii) to protect human or animal life or health within the territory
of a country from risks arising from additives, contaminants, toxins
or disease-causing organisms in foods, beverages or feedstuffs;
(iii) to protect human life or health within the territory of a
country from risks arising from diseases carried by animals, plants
or products thereof, or from the entry, establishment or spread of
pests; or (iv) to prevent or limit other damage within the territory
of a country from the entry, establishment or spread of pests.
Sanitary or phytosanitary measures include all relevant laws,
decrees, regulations, requirements and procedures including, inter alia, end product criteria; processes and production
methods; testing, inspection, certification and approval procedures;
quarantine treatments including relevant requirements associated
with the transport of animals or plants, or with the materials
necessary for their survival during transport; provisions on
relevant statistical methods, sampling procedures and methods of
risk assessment; and packaging and labeling requirements directly
related to food safety.
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Special
agricultural safeguard regime |
Provisions within the Uruguay Round
(WTO) Agreement on Agriculture designed to protect products which
were subject to tariffication from surges in imports or large price
declines. |
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State trading enterprises on agricultural products
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Governmental and non-governmental
enterprises officially granted the function of importing and/or
exporting agricultural products. |
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WTO Agreement on Agriculture
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The Agreement on Agriculture is one of
the 29 individual legal texts included in the Final Act under an
umbrella agreement establishing the WTO. It was negotiated in the
1986–94 Uruguay Round and is a significant first step towards fairer
competition and a less distorted sector. It includes specific
commitments by WTO member governments to improve market access and
reduce trade-distorting subsidies in agriculture. These commitments
have an implementation period over a six year period (10 years for
developing countries) that began in 1995. |
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WTO Agreement on the
Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (WTO/SPS
Agreement)
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The Agreement on the Application of
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the “SPS Agreement”) entered
into force with the establishment of the World Trade Organization on
1 January 1995. It concerns the application of food safety and
animal and plant health regulations. |
