REPORT OF THE 1ST TRIENNIAL REVIEW
OF THE OPERATION
OF THE BALI TRQ DECISION
APPROVED BY THE COMMITTEE ON 28 JUNE 2023
INTRODUCTION and
mandate
1.1. At the Ninth Session of the Ministerial Conference, Ministers
adopted the Decision on "Understanding on Tariff Rate Quota Administration
Provisions of Agricultural Products, as defined in Article 2 of the
Agreement on Agriculture" (WT/MIN(13)/39 – WT/L/914), hereafter referred
to as the "Bali TRQ Decision". Paragraph 13 of the Bali TRQ
Decision mandated a review of the operation of this Decision no later than four
years following its adoption. After two years of detailed deliberations, the
Committee adopted the report[1]
of the Review and the associated recommendations at its
31 October 2019 meeting, for transmission to the General Council. The
General Council considered the report at its December 2019 meeting and approved
the recommendations contained in Annex 2 thereto.[2]
The agreed recommendations contain several measures and processes aimed at
enhancing transparency and improving TRQ notification practices. Paragraph 3 of
the agreed recommendations provides:
"The Committee agrees to undertake
regular reviews of the operation of the Bali TRQ Decision every three years
after the conclusion of this review. These regular reviews will include,
inter alia, an examination of the utilization of the Underfill Mechanism
based on submissions by Members."
1.2. Until 31 March 2022, Members in their discussions on the follow-up
to the Bali TRQ Decision focused their efforts primarily on reaching an
agreement on the future operation paragraph 4 of the Underfill Mechanism.[3]
[2] Paragraphs 3.1 to 3.7 of WT/GC/M/181 refer. On the mandated issue
of the future operation of paragraph 4 of the underfill mechanism, Members
had not reached an agreement during the 2017-19 Review.
[3] A decision on this outstanding issue was adopted by the General
Council on 31 March 2022 (WT/L/1132 refers) based on the recommendations
approved by the Committee on Agriculture in G/AG/32/Add.1.