National agricultural support schemes are governed by the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA), which entered into force in 1995 and was negotiated during the Uruguay Round (1986-1994). The long-term objective of the AoA is to establish a fair and market-oriented agricultural trading system and to initiate a reform process by negotiating commitments on assistance and protection and establishing stronger and more operationally effective rules and disciplines. Agriculture is therefore special because the sector has a separate agreement whose provisions are given priority. At the WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali, Indonesia, in 2013, ministers also agreed on a range of agriculture-related issues. WTO members have taken steps to reform the agricultural sector and tackle high subsidies and trade barriers that distort agricultural trade. The overall goal is to create a fairer trading system that improves market access and improves the livelihoods of farmers around the world. The WTO Agreement on Agriculture, which entered into force in 1995, is an important step in reforming agricultural trade and making it fairer and more competitive. The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development monitors the implementation of the agreement. Before the Uruguay Round negotiations, it became increasingly clear that the causes of disorder in world agriculture went beyond the problems of access to imports, traditionally at the centre of the GATT negotiations.
To get to the bottom of the issues, disciplinary measures were deemed essential for all measures relating to agricultural trade, including domestic agricultural policy and agricultural export subsidies. It was also considered necessary to have clearer rules for sanitary and phytosanitary measures, both in themselves and in order to avoid stricter rules on access to imports being circumvented by unjustified and protectionist application of food safety, as well as sanitary and phytosanitary measures. Export subsidies are the third pillar. The 1995 agricultural agreement required industrialized countries to reduce export subsidies by at least 36% (in value) and 21% (in volume) over six years. For developing countries, the agreement required reductions of 24 per cent (in value) and 14 per cent (in volume) over ten years. In principle, all WTO agreements and arrangements on trade in goods apply to agriculture, including GATT 1994 and WTO agreements on issues such as customs valuation, import certificates, preshipment inspections, early protection measures, subsidies and technical barriers to trade. . . .