Domestic Support in Agriculture: The Struggle for Meaningful Disciplines

The current basis for multilateral negotiations of global agricultural trade isthe July 2004 Agriculture Framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO).Negotiators had hoped to reach an agreement on how, by how much, and when cuts in agricultural support should be made by the end of July 2005, but that hope was not realized because of major disagreements on the level and method of reductions. The focus now is how to move from the 2004 Agriculture Framework to a more specific agreement in time for approval at the WTO’s Hong Kong Ministerial in December 2005, so that agreed modalities can be translated into draft schedules of subsidy reductions. This note examines the provisions of the July 2004 Framework concerning disciplines specific to domestic support, discusses the main issues under negotiation and their prospects for success, and makes specific recommendations for more effective disciplines.1 Domestic support disciplines in the WTO Agreement on Agriculture and in the July 2004 Framework Domestic support—support provided through subsidies paid by government to producers or through administered prices—is classified under the WTO 199