China – Domestic Support for Agricultural Producers

Request to Join Consultations

Communication from the Philippines

The following communication, dated 5 October 2016, from the delegation of the Philippines to the delegation of China, the delegation of the United States and to the Chairperson of the Dispute Settlement Body, is circulated in accordance with Article 4.11 of the DSU.

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This refers to the United States Request for Consultations with respect to China's domestic support measures benefiting its agricultural producers of wheat, rice, and maize (WT/DS51/1 dated 20 September 2016).

As a major producer of rice and a significant producer of maize, the Philippines has substantial interest in these consultation proceedings. The Philippines also operates public stockholding programmes for both rice and maize which may have similar features as those of China's programmes that are the subject of the dispute filed by the United States.  Thus, any possible legal interpretations of the public stockholding (PSH) provisions under Annex II of the AoA and the methodologies in calculating market price support (MPS) and product-specific aggregate measure of support (AMS) under Annex III could have serious negative implications on the way the country operates its public stockholding programmes.

In accordance with Article 4.11 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU), the Government of the Philippines hereby request to join the consultation proceedings pursuant to Articles 1 and 4 of the DSU, Article 19 of the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) and Article XXII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 with respect to all support China provides in favour of agricultural producers.

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