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Order Code RL30612
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Agriculture in the WTO:
Member Spending on Domestic Support
Updated June 17, 2005
Randy Schnepf
Specialist in Agricultural Policy
Resources, Science, and Industry Division
Congressional Research Service ~ The Library of Congress
Agriculture in the WTO:
Member Spending on Domestic Support
Summary
Under the World Trade Organization's (WTO's) Agreement on Agriculture
(AA), member countries agreed to general rules regarding disciplines on domestic
subsidies (as well as on export subsidies and market access). The AA's goal was to
provide a framework for the leading members of the WTO to make changes in their
domestic farm policies to facilitate more open trade. Under the AA, domestic
spending is disaggregated according to those outlays that have the greatest potential
to distort agricultural markets (i.e., amber box) and therefore are subject to spending
limits, and more benign outlays (i.e., which cause less market distortion) that are
exempted from spending limits under green box, blue box, de minimis, or special and
differential treatment exemptions.
Of the 148 members in the WTO on February 16, 2005, 35 had made specific
commitments to reduce domestic spending. Based on a review of the 1995-2001
period for which WTO member data are available, WTO policy commitments appear
to have either reduced or redirected domestic subsidies away from market-distorting
policies and towards programs of the exempt categories. In addition, amber box
spending generally has declined relative to spending limits. A notable exception to
these trends is the United States, where domestic support has trended higher, both in
total value and as a share of WTO spending limits.
During 1995-2001, three WTO members -- the 15-member European Union
(EU-15), the United States, and Japan -- dominated every WTO category of
domestic support spending. Together, they accounted for over 90% of amber box
spending by WTO members -- the EU-15 had a commanding 60% share compared
with 19% for Japan and 13% for the United States.
However, policy reforms in the EU-15 and Japan have helped to reduce their
amber box spending in recent years -- both in total value and as a share of the amber
box ceiling. EU-15 amber box spending has declined steadily from $66.5 billion in
1995 to $34.8 billion in 2001 while the outlay-to-ceiling average share has held fairly
steady at about 65%. Japan's amber box outlays have fallen from $36.8 billion (an
outlay-to-ceiling share of 73%) in 1995 to $5.3 billion (17%) in 2001. U.S. amber
box spending has trended higher from an average of $6.1 billion during 1995-97, to
$16 billion during 1999-2001. As a share of its WTO ceiling, U.S. amber box
spending has risen from 27% to 83% during those same two periods. A tightening
gap between WTO spending limits and outlays has the potential to constrain
flexibility and policy choices in considering ways to assist domestic agricultural
producers, as well as to limit trade negotiators in the ongoing Doha Round of trade
negotiations. In contrast, a widening gap between the amber box ceiling and actual
outlays represents greater negotiating power for future cuts in WTO spending limits
without sacrificing domestic policy flexibility.
Data on domestic support by WTO members has been assembled from available
notifications and is presented in a series of appendix tables (Appendix Tables 1-13)
at the end of this report. This report will be updated as events warrant.
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Domestic Support Commitments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Amber Box Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Exemptions from AMS Reduction Commitments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Monitoring Implementation of Commitments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Notification of Domestic Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Choosing a Marketing Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Overdue Notifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Issues With Subsidy Categorization and Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Domestic Support Comparisons Among WTO Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Amber Box Ceiling and Outlays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Exemptions from AMS Reduction Commitments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Green Box Exemptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Blue Box Exemptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
De Minimis Exemptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Special and Differential Treatment (SDT) Exemptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Total Outlays Across All Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Implications for U.S. Agricultural Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Farm Subsidy Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Amber Box Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
De Minimis Exemptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
AMS Spending by Commodity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Green Box Exemptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Blue Box Exemptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
WTO "Circuit Breaker" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Issues Surrounding Domestic Support Commitments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Related CRS Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Appendix Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Note on Exchange Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
List of Figures
Figure 1. Total Domestic Subsidies for Agriculture, All WTO Members,
1995-2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Figure 2. Amber Box Outlays: EU-15, United States, Japan, and
Rest of World, 1995-2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Figure 3. Amber Box Spending as Percentage of Ceiling: EU-15,
United States, and Japan, 1995-2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Figure 4. Exemptions from AMS Reduction Commitments,
by Major Category, 1995-2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Figure 5. Green Box Exemptions: EU-15, United States, Japan,
and Rest of World, 1995-2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Figure 6. Blue Box Exemptions: EU-15, United States, Japan,
and Rest of World, 1995-2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Figure 7. De Minimis Exemptions: EU-15, United States, Japan,
and Rest of World, 1995-2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Figure 8. Total Domestic Support Outlays: EU-15, United States, Japan,
and Rest of World, 1995-2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Figure 9. U.S. AMS Outlays by Category, 1995-2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Figure 10. U.S. Amber Box Outlays, De Minimis Exemptions,
and AMS Commitments Ceiling, 1995-2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Figure 11. U.S. AMS Outlays by Commodity, 1995-2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Figure 12. U.S. Green Box Outlays by Major Category, 1995-2001 . . . . . . . . . . 20
List of Tables
Appendix Table 1. WTO Domestic Support (DS) Notification Requirements . . 25
Appendix Table 2. Submission Status of Domestic Support Notifications
by WTO Members, 1995-2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Appendix Table 3. Amber Box Annual Spending Ceiling, by WTO Member
(Ranked by 2004 Bound Level), 1995-2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Appendix Table 4. Amber Box Spending as Notified by WTO Members
(Ranked by Annual Average), 1995-2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Appendix Table 5. Green Box Exemptions, as Notified by WTO Members
(Ranked by Annual Average), 1995-2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Appendix Table 6. De Minimis Exemptions as Notified by WTO Members
(Ranked by Annual Average), 1995-2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Appendix Table 7. Blue Box Exemptions as Notified by WTO Members
(Ranked by Annual Average), 1995-2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Appendix Table 8. Special and Differential Treatment (SDT) Exemptions as
Notified by WTO Members (Ranked by Cumulative Total), 1995-2001 . . 33
Appendix Table 9. Comparison of Total Domestic Support: EU-15,
United States, Japan, and Rest-of-World, 1995-2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Appendix Table 10. U.S. Domestic Support: Amber Box Categories and
De Minimis Exemptions, 1995-2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Appendix Table 11. U.S. AMS: Non-Exempt Direct Payments, 1995-2001 . . . 37
Appendix Table 12. U.S. AMS Outlays by Commodity, 1995-2001 . . . . . . . . . 38
Appendix Table 13. U.S. Green Box Exemptions, by Category, 1995-2001 . . . 39
Agriculture in the WTO:
Member Spending on Domestic Support
Introduction
Under the World Trade Organization's (WTO's) Agreement on Agriculture
(AA), member countries agreed to general rules regarding disciplines on domestic
and export subsidies, and concessions on market access.1 With respect to domestic
subsidies, the AA's goal was to provide a framework for the leading members of the
WTO to make changes in their domestic farm policies to facilitate more open trade.
Domestic programs deemed, at the time, to have the greatest potential for stimulating
excess production, and thereby distorting world trade in various agricultural
commodities, became subject to annual subsidy limits.
Of the 148 members in the WTO on February 17, 2005, 35 had made specific
commitments to reduce domestic spending as measured by the Aggregate Measure
of Support (AMS). In the initial WTO agreement, 26 countries out of 125 members
made AMS reduction commitments. Between January 1, 1995 and February 17,
2005, an additional 23 countries joined the WTO. Of these newly acceded countries,
nine had also made specific AMS commitments (see Appendix Tables 2-4 for a list
of countries with AMS reduction commitments).
This report focuses solely on the commitments made by WTO member countries
concerning government outlays in support of domestic agricultural production. The
introductory section provides a brief overview of WTO domestic policy
commitments, as well as background information on WTO member requirements for
reporting on domestic subsidy outlays. In the second section, WTO member outlays
made to support agricultural production (as reported in member notifications to the
WTO's Committee on Agriculture) are discussed. Following the WTO reporting
format, domestic spending is disaggregated according to those outlays that count
against spending limits (i.e., amber box) and those outlays that are exempted from
spending limits (i.e., green box, blue box, de minimis, or special and differential
treatment (SDT) exemptions). Special attention is paid to the spending levels and
exemptions for the three major WTO members -- the United States, the 15-member
European Union (EU-15), and Japan. Together, these three entities account for over
90% of all domestic agricultural subsidies reported by WTO members.
The third and final section describes in more detail U.S. agricultural support
outlays and compares them against spending limits. In addition, it briefly discusses
the implications for U.S. agricultural policy of continued adherence to existing WTO
commitments.
1
For information on the full range of member commitments, see CRS Report RL32916,
Agriculture in the WTO: Policy Commitments Made Under the Agreement on Agriculture.
CRS-2
Data on domestic support by WTO members have been assembled from
available notifications and are presented in a series of appendix tables (Appendix
Tables 1-9) at the end of this report. Detailed data on U.S. domestic support, as
notified to the WTO, are presented in Appendix Tables 10-13. These tables are
referenced throughout this report.
Domestic Support Commitments
Domestic support broadly refers to those agricultural policies that operate within
a country so as to influence internal farm and rural incomes, resource use, production,
and consumption of agricultural products, or the environmental impacts of farming.
The Agreement on Agriculture (AA) recognizes that individual WTO member
countries reserve the right and may be obligated by their electorates to use domestic
support policies to pursue various national policy objectives. As a result, the AA
distinguishes between support programs that have a direct effect on agricultural
production and those that are deemed minimally trade or production distorting.
The AA commits countries to discipline their domestic farm subsidies primarily
by establishing an annual dollar limit on those policies determined to have the
greatest potential to distort markets, while allowing exemptions for less distortive
policies. Negotiators (not the Agreement itself) used a color-coded analogy based on
a traffic light for these program categories, as described below. For a detailed
description of domestic support criteria in accordance with WTO commitments see
CRS Report RS20840, Agriculture in the WTO: Limits on Domestic Support.
Amber Box Policies. Those policies deemed most likely to cause producers
to divert resources into or out of the production of various commodities, thus
affecting supplies and world prices, are categorized as amber box policies by the
WTO. In the traffic light analogy, amber signifies "proceed with caution subject to
rules and commitments."
Each WTO country with such policies has its own dollar limitation, termed its
"aggregate measurement of support" (AMS). Annex 3 of the AA specifies the
methods countries must use to calculate their AMS. For example, an AMS must be
calculated on a product-specific basis for each agricultural product supported.
Supports that are not product-specific (for example, irrigation subsidies) must be
aggregated into one non-product specific AMS. National and sub-national (e.g.,
state) support must be counted; levies or fees on producers are subtracted from the
AMS calculation.
Examples of such policies or programs include price supports, where the
government ensures that the farm price of a particular commodity will not fall
beneath a prescribed level; direct payments tied to each unit of a commodity currently
produced; subsidies on such inputs as fertilizer, seed, irrigation, or feed; and
subsidized crop loans.
Each WTO member agreed that total annual subsidies for its amber box policies
-- its AMS -- would not exceed a base period level (generally 1986-1988). In
addition, 35 of these countries, including the United States and most other major
agricultural traders, agreed to gradually reduce the maximum permitted levels of
CRS-3
amber box support each year, using the AMS calculation to determine this support.
The rates of spending reduction and the length of the implementation period varied
according to a country's status as either developed, developing, or least-developed.
In general, the developed countries agreed to reduce their total AMS by 20% from
their base period, over a six-year period of implementation (1995-2000). Developing
countries agreed to a 13% reduction over a 10-year period (1995-2004). Least-
developed countries agreed to not increase support beyond the base period level.
Each member's AMS for the final year of implementation is the "bound" level
applying to each succeeding year -- until a new trade agreement is negotiated.
Reductions do not have to be made equally across commodities or on a commodity-
by-commodity basis. Each country can decide which programs to reduce, and how,
in order to meet its obligation.
Individual country negotiations resulted in some variation from these general
rules. The list of specific commitments, along with their implementation period, are
spelled out for each member country in its "schedule of concessions" (also referred
to as its country schedule).2 New members that join the WTO must negotiate their
specific policy commitments, also detailed in a country schedule, during their
accession negotiations.
Commitments made by WTO members could potentially constrain their
flexibility and spending choices when they consider ways to assist their agricultural
producers at home. In other words, a WTO member might not be able to undertake
or expand a domestic farm program if that action would cause the member to exceed
the annual support limit it agreed to. As a WTO member nation, these constraints
also apply to the United States, which was a leading voice for agricultural trade
reforms, including reductions in trade-distorting domestic subsidies.
Exemptions from AMS Reduction Commitments. The AA defines four
categories of domestic support that are eligible for exemption from AMS reduction
commitments -- green box, blue box, de minimis, and special and differential
treatment (SDT) exemptions. The AA describes the general conditions that a policy
must meet to qualify for one of these four exemptions. However, each country may
have its own interpretation of the WTO conditions. As a result, country notifications3
are the primary means for determining (1) how a country has chosen to categorize its
domestic subsidies; and (2) whether a country is fully meeting its AMS reduction
commitments. Disagreements between or among WTO members over whether
certain subsidies have been correctly categorized (i.e., as exempt from or subject to
AMS reduction commitments) often give rise to WTO dispute settlement cases where
the issue is ruled on by a WTO dispute settlement panel.4
2
Each WTO member's "schedule of concessions," is available at [http://www.wto.org/
english/tratop_e/schedules_e/goods_schedules_e.htm].
3
See "Monitoring Implementation of Commitments" section below for explanation of
notifications.
4
For more information, see CRS Report RS20088, Dispute Settlement in the World
(continued...)
CRS-4
Green Box. Certain types of domestic subsidies that do not distort trade, or
at most cause minimal distortion while achieving various domestic policy goals are
exempted from domestic support disciplines.5 Complying policies include outlays
for activities such as agricultural research and extension, conservation and the
environment, rural development, food security stocks, domestic food aid (e.g., food
stamps), farm disaster payments, and structural adjustment programs. Also exempted
are "decoupled" payments -- that is, payments not linked to current production
decisions such as commodity direct payments. These specific exemptions are
referred to as "green" in the traffic-light sense since countries can "go ahead" with
these policies without limit.
Blue Box. Direct payments may qualify for exemption (in the blue box) from
AMS reduction commitments if they are made under production-limiting programs.
For crops, this includes those payment programs based on fixed area and yield or
based on no more than 85% of base production. For livestock production, this
includes those payments tied to a fixed number of livestock. There are no limits on
blue box spending.
De Minimis Exemptions. The idea behind the de minimis exemption is that
"small" levels of domestic support, no matter what their nature, are deemed
sufficiently benign (i.e., not likely to distort trade) that they do not have to be
included in the AMS calculation. The de minimis exemption may be applied to
domestic subsidies at two levels: product-specific (i.e., support that applies to a
specific product such as wheat, sugar, etc.) and non-product specific (e.g., irrigation).
If total non-product specific subsidies are below 5% (10% for developing countries)
of the value of a developed country's total agricultural production then they do not
have to be included in the AMS calculation. In order to evaluate a product-specific
subsidy, first total all forms of non-exempt support for that particular commodity,
then apply the 5% rule to the value of production for that specific commodity.
For countries that have no AMS reduction commitment in their schedules,
domestic support is limited to their de minimis values on both a product-specific and
non-product-specific basis for any given year.
Special and Differential Treatment (SDT) Exemptions. Certain types
of government assistance in developing countries and LDCs are exempt from support
reduction commitments.6 These include both direct and indirect domestic investment
in agriculture and rural development, as well as agricultural input subsidies generally
available to low-income or resource-poor producers in developing countries. Also
included are investments intended to encourage diversification away from growing
illicit narcotic crops.
4
(...continued)
Trade Organization.
5
The types of "green box" policies are identified in Annex 2 of the Agreement on
Agriculture (AA) at [http://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/14-ag.pdf].
6
For more details, see Article 6.2 of the AA.
CRS-5
Monitoring Implementation of Commitments
To provide for monitoring and compliance of WTO policy commitments, the
Uruguay Round established a Committee on Agriculture and assigned it the duty of
reviewing progress in the implementation of individual member commitments.
Notification of Domestic Support. Each WTO member country is
expected to routinely submit reports (called notifications) on the implementation of
its domestic support commitments for monitoring and review by the WTO
Committee on Agriculture. These notifications serve as the primary source of
information about each country's domestic agricultural subsidy outlays, and on how
such subsidies have been classified -- as exempt from or as subject to reduction
commitments.
Although the AA has no firm deadlines for notifications, the Committee on
Agriculture has adopted explicit notification requirements and formats that member
countries are expected to follow (see Appendix Table 1 in this report for details).7
In general, members with base and annual domestic support commitments should
submit notifications on domestic support implementation no later than 120 days
following the end of the marketing year.
Choosing a Marketing Year. WTO members are given considerable
flexibility in defining the 12-month marketing year most relevant to their situation.
Countries may choose between a calendar, fiscal, or marketing year as their
implementation year. As a result, the marketing year reporting period and
notification due-date vary widely across countries.
Some countries -- including the United States -- report their AMS data using
a mixture of different commodity marketing years. For example, the 2001 marketing
year for U.S. wheat began in June 2001 and ended in May 2002. The corn marketing
year began in September 2001 and ended in August 2002. Most U.S. livestock
activities are reported on a calendar year basis. USDA analysts who prepare the
notifications must wait until after the end of each commodity's marketing year when
all spending and program details become available. Then more time typically is
needed to review and calculate expenditures, and organize them into WTO formats
and categories.
Overdue Notifications. Although all WTO members agreed to abide by their
commitments and to provide notifications of their implementation status, the WTO
has no formal method for enforcing such promises. As a result, delays in submitting
notifications have become nearly routine for most WTO members and a substantial
number of notifications has fallen overdue.
The WTO Committee on Agriculture releases occasional reports detailing the
status of members' implementation of policy commitments (see Appendix Table 2).
7
For more information, see CRS Report RL32916, Agriculture in the WTO: Policy
Commitments Made Under the Agreement on Agriculture. The WTO source document is
"Notification Requirements and Formats," G/AG/2, June 30, 1995.
CRS-6
According to WTO data through June 1, 2005, 1995 was the sole year for which all
members with domestic support reduction commitments for that year had submitted
a notification. For 2000, out of 30 countries with commitments, 25 (or 83%) had
notified. For 2003, of the 35 countries with commitments, 8 (or 23%) had notified
and 27 were overdue, including the United States. The most recent U.S. notification
was for 2001, which was not submitted until March 17, 2004.8
Some particularly egregious examples of overdue notifications include Brazil,
Mexico, Switzerland-Liechtenstein, and Venezuela, whose most recent notifications
of domestic support are for 1998. Their 1999 notifications of domestic support are
now approximately five years late.
With respect to compliance, the WTO again has no enforcement mechanism.
Instead, individual members may bring a case against another member in the event
of apparent noncompliance with policy commitments; however, the burden of proof
is upon the accuser whose case is made all the more difficult if the accused member
has failed to keep up with annual notifications.
Issues With Subsidy Categorization and Reporting. WTO trade
negotiators (and countries that rely heavily on them) consider domestic support
subsidies made under the four exemption categories to be more virtuous (i.e., cause
less market distortion) than amber box spending. However, some market analysts
(and WTO members) argue that these exemption categories, as well as the entire
notification process, have two principal faults.
First, categorizing and reporting exempted subsidies are largely self-policed.
That is, each member country has some discretion in determining whether a subsidy
is green or amber and, if it is the latter, in calculating its value for WTO reporting
purposes.
Second, critics maintain that the various exemption categories have been used
by a few countries, primarily the EU-15 and the United States, to shield some large
subsidies from any required cutbacks. Creation of the blue box is cited as an
example of an exemption designed strictly to protect the EU-15's compensatory
payments. Similarly, the United States' heavy use of the de minimis exclusion is
often characterized as a dodge of subsidy commitments.
Defenders of the language in the WTO's AA argue that criteria for defining
AMS outlays as exempt or non-exempt are sufficiently explicit to prevent WTO
members from undermining the basic objectives of the Uruguay Round Agreement.
Furthermore, they contend that the agricultural policy commitments made under the
Uruguay Round and the AA represent the first meaningful attempt to bring the
agricultural sector under any significant discipline. Therefore, since consensus was
paramount, it could have been unhelpful, from the point-of-view of reaching a final
agreement, if the trade negotiators had tried to over-reach on the extent of disciplines
to be imposed on domestic support.
8
WTO document, G/AG/N/USA/51, March 17, 2005; available at [http://docsonline.wto.
org/].
CRS-7
Domestic Support Comparisons
Among WTO Members
Total AMS spending, as notified by all WTO members, has been broken into
exempt and non-exempt categories for comparison in Figure 1. Total domestic
support declined from $294.9 billion in 1995 to $189.3 billion in 2001 -- a 36%
decline. This period encompasses all of the implementation period (1995-2000) for
developed countries. The decline in domestic support spending was expected to
continue, albeit slower, through 2004 (the final implementation year for developing
countries) since 18 of the 35 current WTO members with AMS reduction
commitments are developing countries.
Appendix Table 2 shows the status of WTO member notifications on domestic
support as of January 14, 2005. Because so few WTO members have notified their
domestic support activity for the 2002-2004 period, the following discussion focuses
on the 1995-2001 period where data are sufficient to permit valid comparisons.
Figure 1. Total Domestic Subsidies for Agriculture,
All WTO Members, 1995-2001
300
Amber Box
a
Exemptions
250
200
150
100
50
0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Source: USDA/ERS, WTO database, and recent WTO member notifications.
a
Subsidies that are exempted from AMS reduction commitments.
Most of the AMS decline (58%) occurred in amber box outlays which fell by
over one-half from an aggregate of $119.2 billion in 1995 to $58.4 billion in 2001.
Total spending on exempt policy categories also exhibited a decline but by a smaller
amount (25%) from $175.7 billion to $130.9 billion. As a result of this uneven rate
of decline, total exempt spending increased steadily as a share of total AMS
spending, rising from a 58% share in 1995 to a 69% share by 2001. It is likely that
a significant portion of the decline in amber box spending resulted from a shifting of
domestic subsidies from the market-distorting policies of the amber box category to
more "virtuous" programs that qualify for one of the WTO exemption categories.
CRS-8
The pattern of rapidly declining amber box spending relative to exempt AMS
spending holds for all major WTO members with the exception of the United States.
In contrast to the rest of the world, both amber box spending as well as exempt
spending by the United States trended higher through this initial seven-year period
of review, with amber box spending increasing at a generally faster rate than exempt
spending. (See the third section of this report, "Implications for U.S. Agriculture,"
for a discussion of U.S. domestic support.)
Data on AMS spending by categories (both exempt and non-exempt) are
presented in Appendix Tables 3-8. It is noteworthy that three WTO members -- the
15-member European Union (EU-15),9 the United States, and Japan -- dominate
nearly every AMS spending category (Appendix Table 9). To better contrast the
preeminence of domestic support by these 3 members from the other 145 members
of the WTO, data are disaggregated as the EU-15, the United States, Japan, and a
"rest-of-world (ROW) group. Using this breakout, WTO member spending under
each of the AMS categories is discussed below.
Amber Box Ceiling and Outlays
Under an AMS spending limit, a WTO member commits to not exceed an
established amber box spending level. As a point of reference, the United States'
amber box spending limit began from a base of $23.9 billion during 1986-88, but
declined in six successive annual steps to $19.1 billion in 2000. In any year after that
(or until a new negotiating round is concluded), U.S. amber box outlays cannot
exceed $19.1 billion. This compares with the amber box ceiling of $59.8 billion
(67.2 billion euro) for the EU-15 and $35.9 billion (3,973 billion Yen) for Japan in
2000. A strengthening of the euro and yen against the U.S. dollar resulted in a rising
dollar value for both the EU-15's and Japan's amber box ceiling in 2004 -- to $83.3
billion and $36.3 billion, respectively.10
In 2000, the EU-15, the United States, and Japan accounted for over 80% of the
aggregate WTO amber box ceiling. Only two other WTO members had amber box
limits above $3 billion in 2000 -- Mexico at $8.8 billion and Poland at $3.3 billion.
Appendix Table 3 shows base period and annual amber box commitments and final
year (bound) commitments, as well as the final implementation years (FIYs) for those
WTO members with AMS reduction commitments. In general, the FIY was 2000 for
developed countries and 2004 for developing countries. However, three countries
that acceded after January 1, 1995 have alternate FIYs: Jordan (2006), Lithuania
(2005), and the former Yugoslav Republic (FYR) of Macedonia (2003).
Appendix Table 4 shows actual annual amber box outlays. The EU-15
accounted for a commanding 59% of all amber box outlays during 1995-2001,
compared with shares of 19% for Japan and 13% for the United States (Figure 2).
9
On May 1, 2004, the EU-15 added 10 new members; however, aggregate data for the
expanded EU-25 will not appear until notification for the 2004 marketing year is submitted.
10
This is purely an artifact of exchange rate fluctuations and does not represent a loosening
of in either the EU-15's or Japan's true AMS ceiling since both countries undertake all of
their domestic policy subsidies in euros and yen, respectively.
CRS-9
Together, the EU-15, the United States, and Japan have accounted for over 90% of
all actual amber box spending by WTO members.
Figure 2. Amber Box Outlays: EU-15, United States,
Japan, and Rest of World, 1995-2001
120
Rest-of-World
Japan
100 United States
Eur. Union-15
80
60
40
20
0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Source: USDA/ERS, WTO database, and recent WTO member notifications.
The EU-15's actual amber box spending has declined steadily from $64.4 billion
in 1995 to $35.2 billion in 2001 (Figure 2). This decline has been in lock step with
the EU-15's declining amber box ceiling and has resulted in a fairly steady outlay-to-
ceiling average share of 64% (Figure 3). A large gap between the amber box ceiling
and actual outlays is significant because it represents real negotiating power for
future cuts in WTO amber box ceiling levels without sacrificing domestic policy
flexibility. The EU-15's ability to easily absorb further ceiling cuts has been
enhanced since 2000 by a series of internal agricultural policy reforms which are
expected to dramatically reduce its amber box spending -- both in total value and as
a share of its amber box ceiling.11 A key element of recent EU policy reforms has
been a re-orientation of subsidy payments away from "coupled" payments (i.e.,
subsidies that are linked directly to producer behavior and are, therefore, subject to
amber box reduction commitments) to "decoupled" payments (i.e., minimally
distortive subsidies that are linked only indirectly to producer behavior and are,
therefore, eligible for exemption from reduction commitments). These reforms are,
thus, expected to give the EU-15 much greater flexibility in negotiating cuts in AMS
spending in future WTO trade negotiations.
11
Major EU agricultural policy reforms include "Agenda 2000" and the "CAP Reform of
2003-04." For more information, see USDA, ERS, CAP Reform of 2003-04, WRS0407,
August 2004, at [http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/WRS0407/].
CRS-10
Figure 3. Amber Box Spending as Percentage of Ceiling:
EU-15, United States, and Japan, 1995-2001
1E+02%
100% Eur. Union-15
United States
80% Japan
60%
40%
20%
0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Source: USDA/ERS, WTO database, and recent WTO member notifications.
Since the mid-1990s, Japan has been gradually reforming its domestic policy,
including the removal of government controls over its wholesale and retail rice
markets.12 As a result, market prices for rice -- traditionally Japan's largest crop --
have been declining. However, producer prices remain substantially above
international market prices due to stringent import barriers. In 1998, Japan
abandoned its program of administered producer prices in favor of a rice producer's
income stabilization program (whose payments are notified as blue box); stronger use
of a rice land diversion program (whose payments are notified as green box); and
continued reliance of import controls (which are dealt with under market access
commitments) to support domestic prices.
As a result of these changes, Japan stopped notifying rice as receiving any
product-specific AMS price support (despite domestic prices that were still 10 or
more times higher than prices in other japonica rice-growing countries). Japan's
notification of product-specific rice price support dropped from 2,315 billion yen
($18.8 billion) in 1997 to only 41.9 billion yen ($327 million) in 1998, and this latter
amount was exempted under the product-specific de minimis exemption. None of
these notification changes were challenged by other WTO members. These changes
resulted in substantially lower annual amber box outlays during 1998-2001. For
example, during the 1995-1997 period, Japan's annual amber box outlays averaged
almost $31 billion. Since 1998 they have averaged just $6.1 billion, substantially
below Japan's amber box ceiling of about $36 billion. Concomitantly, the share of
12
USDA, ERS, Rice Sector Policies in Japan, RCS-0303-01, March 2003.
CRS-11
Japan's amber box spending relative to its ceiling has fallen from a 72% share during
1995-97 to only a 17% share during 1999-2001 suggesting that Japan (like the EU-
15) will have substantial flexibility in negotiating future cuts in domestic support
during WTO trade negotiations.
In contrast to the declining pattern of amber box spending by the EU-15 and
Japan, the United States has seen its annual amber box outlays jump from an average
of $6.1 billion during 1995-97, to $16 billion during 1999-2001. As a share of its
amber box ceiling, U.S. amber box spending has risen from a 27% share to an 83%
share during those same two periods. (See the third section of this report,
"Implications for U.S. Agriculture," for a discussion of U.S. domestic support.)
Exemptions from AMS Reduction Commitments
Cumulative green box exemptions of $806.0 billion accounted for 50% of total
subsidy exemptions during the 1995-2001 period (Figure 4). This compares with
blue box exemptions of $175.4 billion (11% share), de minimis exemptions of $64.7
billion (4% share), and SDT exemptions of $19.1 billion (1%). Each of the four
amber box exemptions is briefly discussed below.
Figure 4. Exemptions from AMS Reduction
Commitments, by Major Category, 1995-2001
200 a
SDT
De Minimis
Blue Box
Green Box
150
100
50
0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Source: USDA/ERS, WTO database, and recent WTO member notifications.
a
SDT=Special and Differential Treatment exemption.
See Appendix Tables 5-8 for data on country notifications of agricultural
subsidies that are exempted from AMS reduction commitments under one of the four
principal exemption categories -- green box, blue box, de minimis, or SDT
exemptions.
CRS-12
Figure 5. Green Box Exemptions: EU-15, United States,
Japan, and Rest of World, 1995-2001
140 Rest-of-World
Eur. Union-15
Japan
120
United States
100
80
60
40
20
0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Green Box Exemptions
The EU-15, the United States, and Japan together accounted for about 83% of
all green box spending by WTO members during the 1995-2001 period (Appendix
Table 5 and Figure 5). The United States dominated WTO green box outlays
accounting for 43% of the cumulative seven-year total, compared with shares of 21%
for Japan, 19% the EU-15, and 17% for the rest of world (ROW) group.
From 1996 to 2001, U.S. green box outlays were fairly stable in a range of $50
to 52 billion. Japan and EU-15 outlays showed a greater tendency to decline over the
seven-year period. Japan's green box spending fell from its peak levels of
$32.9 billion in 1995 to $20.4 billion in 2001. EU-15 green box spending peaked at
$26.6 billion in 1996 and had fallen to $18.5 billion by 2001. Green box spending
for ROW showed a similar pattern of decline, falling from a peak of $26.3 billion in
1995 to average about $12.8 billion during 1999-2001.
Blue Box Exemptions
Any support that would normally be in the amber box is instead placed in the
blue box where it is exempt from AMS reduction commitments provided that the
support requires agricultural producers to limit production. Appendix Table 6 and
Figure 6 show annual blue box outlays as reported in member notifications between
1995 and 2001.
CRS-13
Figure 6. Blue Box Exemptions: EU-15, United States,
Japan, and Rest of World, 1995-2001
35
Rest-of-World
Japan
30
United States
Eur. Union-15
25
20
15
10
5
0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Source: USDA/ERS, WTO database, and recent WTO member notifications.
The blue box was created mainly to facilitate a compromise between the United
States and the EU-15 (now the primary blue box user) so that the Uruguay Round
negotiations on agriculture could be brought to a successful conclusion.13 As a result,
the blue box criteria explicitly encompass the EU-15's direct compensatory
payments, (which were linked to land use and to number of livestock), as well as the
former U.S. target price deficiency payments made for grains and cotton.
U.S. deficiency payments of $7 billion appear in the WTO blue box in 1995;
however, the 1996 Farm Act ended their use. In contrast, the EU-15's compensatory
payments -- which were adopted with the 1992 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
reforms to compensate farmers for significantly reduced market intervention prices
-- are still in effect and have comprised 94% of all WTO blue box payments between
1996 and 2001.
De Minimis Exemptions
Commodity-specific support that is below 5% (10% for developing countries)
of a commodity's value of production is deemed sufficiently benign that it does not
have to be included in the AMS calculation. Similarly, non-product specific support
that is below 5% (10% for developing countries) of the total value of production for
all commodities may be exempted from inclusion in the AMS. For countries that
have no AMS reduction commitment in their schedules, the de minimis exemption
limits constitute their primary domestic subsidy ceiling.
13
USDA, ERS, Agriculture in the WTO, WRS-98-4, December 1998, "Domestic Support
Commitments: A Preliminary Evaluation," p. 15.
CRS-14
Figure 7. De Minimis Exemptions: EU-15, United States,
Japan, and Rest of World, 1995-2001
12
Rest-of-World
Japan
10 Eur. Union-15
United States
8
6
4
2
0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Source: USDA/ERS, WTO database, and recent WTO member notifications.
During the first three years of the implementation period (1995-98), domestic
subsidies exempted from AMS reductions under the de minimis exclusion averaged
$7.8 billion per year with the ROW share averaging 68% compared with 16% for the
United States (Appendix Table 7 and Figure 7).
Then, starting in 1998 the United States began to make heavier use of the de
minimis exclusion. During the 1999-2001 period, U.S. de minimis exemptions
averaged over $7.3 billion per year and accounted for 67% of total WTO de minimis
exclusions. (See the section "Implications for U.S. Agriculture," below for further
discussion of the importance of the de minimis exclusion to the United States' ability
to meet its WTO domestic support reduction commitments.)
Special and Differential Treatment (SDT) Exemptions
SDT exclusions from AMS reduction commitments are targeted to developing
country investments in agriculture and rural development programs. Only developing
or least-developed countries (LDCs) are eligible to use SDT exclusions. During 1996
to 2000, the top ten users of SDT exemptions accounted for 95% of their total use
(Appendix Table 8). The largest users were India, Brazil, Mexico, Thailand,
Morocco, and Turkey. In general, SDT exemptions receive less scrutiny and
visibility than the other exemption categories, due to their relatively small use and
their "developmental" nature.
CRS-15
Figure 8. Total Domestic Support Outlays: EU-15,
United States, Japan, and Rest of World, 1995-2001
300
Rest-of-World
Japan
United States
250
EU-15
200
150
100
50
0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Source: USDA/ERS, WTO database, and recent WTO member notifications.
Note: The total includes all amber box outlays plus all exempted outlays, e.g.,
green box, blue box, de minimis, and SDT exemptions
Total Outlays Across All Categories
Data for all AMS spending categories -- exempt and non-exempt alike -- are
aggregated and presented in Figure 8. The general pattern of member aggregate
shares echoes that of amber box spending -- the EU-15 had the largest share,
followed by the United States, which by 2001 had nearly closed the total subsidy gap
with the EU-15 ($72.1 versus $74.7 billion); Japan was a fairly distant third; and the
ROW comprised a still smaller share (Appendix Table 9).
Many countries have expressed concern that developed countries, particularly
the EU-15, the United States, and Japan, have used the various exemption categories
to their advantage to shelter large subsidy outlays to their agricultural sectors. As a
result, they have argued that stricter limits should be placed on exemptions or
alternately, on total exempt and non-exempt AMS spending. Indeed, such an overall
spending cap is included in the July 2004 "Framework Agreement," of the current
Doha Round of WTO trade negotiations.14
14
For more information, see CRS Report RS21905, Agriculture in the WTO Doha Round:
The Framework Agreement and Next Steps.
CRS-16
Figure 9. U.S. AMS Outlays by Category, 1995-2001
80 Blue Box
De Minimis
70 Amber Box
Green Box
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Source: USDA/ERS, WTO database, and recent U.S. notifications.
Implications for U.S. Agricultural Policy
Farm Subsidy Trends
From 1995 through 2001, the United States' annual AMS was below the levels
to which it committed under the Agreement on Agriculture (AA), and in most cases
comfortably so. However, as mentioned earlier in this report, U.S. domestic support
-- both for total AMS spending and for amber box outlays -- trended higher during
the first seven years of the AA (Figure 9). This pattern is contrary to the general
pattern exhibited by the rest of the WTO membership. The reasons for this, as well
as its potential implications, are discussed below.
After declining to $58.3 billion in 1997, total U.S. AMS outlays for all
categories (exempt and non-exempt) climbed to over $74 billion in 1999 and
remained well-above $70 billion during 2000 and 2001 (Appendix Tables 10-13).
Green box subsidies, which comprised 76% of total U.S. domestic support during the
1995-2001 period, remained relatively stable at about $50 billion. In contrast, U.S.
spending under both the amber box (16% of total) and the de minimis exclusion (6%)
experienced rapid growth and accounted for nearly all of the surge in AMS outlays
that started in 1998.
Although the United States has not yet notified its domestic support spending
for 2002 through the present, CRS estimates of U.S. domestic support (based on
CRS-17
available USDA budget data15) suggest that U.S. amber box outlays are likely to have
declined substantially during 2002-2004 from the relatively high level of 1999-2001,
before rising once again to approach the U.S. amber box ceiling for 2005 and 2006.
The question of how high U.S. domestic support will eventually climb to depends on
how the Administration chooses to notify counter-cyclical payments and on the
eventual level of commodity market prices.
Amber Box Policies. During the 1995-2000 implementation period, the U.S.
amber box ceiling was reduced from $23.9 billion in six equal annual installments
to its current ceiling of $19.1 billion (Figure 10). Since 2000, the United States has
been committed to providing no more than $19.1 billion per year (in total) in amber
box support.
Figure 10. U.S. Amber Box Outlays,
De Minimis Exemptions, and
AMS Commitments Ceiling, 1995-2001
25
AMS Ceiling
20
15
De Minimis
Amber Box
10
5
0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Source: USDA/ERS, WTO database, and recent WTO member
notifications.
U.S. programs that are eligible for inclusion in the amber box include the dairy,
peanut, and sugar price support programs; "marketing loan" programs for grains and
cotton; crop storage payments; irrigation and grazing subsidies; and crop insurance
support (see Appendix Table 10). Subsidies under the dairy, peanut, and sugar
price support programs do not involve a direct payment to producers. Instead, price
supports are defined by the WTO as the difference between the higher protected
domestic price and the unprotected international market price times annual
production.
15
USDA/FSA reports historical and projected outlays of Commodity Credit Corporation
program spending in "Table 35 -- CCC Net Outlays by Commodity & Function," available
at [http://www.fsa.usda.gov/dam/bud/bud1.htm]. These data do not correspond exactly with
WTO notification criteria, but they do provide a rough approximation of WTO-specific
domestic support.
CRS-18
In accordance with WTO classification criteria, each AMS outlay is notified by
whether it is a product-specific subsidy or a general subsidy. This product-specific
versus non-product-specific distinction for AMS outlays has proven crucial to the
United States' ability to meet its AMS spending limits. During 1995-2001, non-
exempt U.S. product-specific support averaged $11.1 billion per year, all of which
has counted against the amber box ceiling. In contrast, non-product-specific support
(which averaged $4.2 billion per year) was exempted from AMS limits every year
under the de minimis exclusion.
As mentioned earlier, the distribution of U.S. domestic support subsidies has
shown an increasing trend. In the first four years of the WTO, 1995-1998, annual
amber box outlays by the United States averaged $7.2 billion, while de minimis
exemptions averaged $2.1 billion. Blue box payments of $7 billion were for a single
year, 1995. During the most recent three notification years, 1999-2001, average
amber box and de minimis outlays had jumped to $16 billion and $7.3 billion per
year, respectively. The surge in domestic support under these two AMS categories
was due to a combination of weak U.S. and international commodity market prices
and poor growing conditions in certain regions of the United States during the 1999-
2001 period. Low commodity prices resulted in large amber box payments under
commodity marketing loan provisions -- both loan defeiciency payments (LDP) and
marketing loan gains16 -- of U.S. farm programs (see Appendix Table 10), while
crop failures generated large disaster relief payments that were classified as non-
commodity-specific outlays and thus were exempted under the de minimis exclusion.
In addition, the United States made large ad hoc farm payments -- referred to
as crop market loss payments -- during the 1998-2001 marketing years. These
payments were intended to partially offset the economic loss of unexpectedly low
market prices and, as such, were notified as eligible for the amber box. They included
nearly $3.8 billion of commodity-specific payments and another $18.4 billion of non-
commodity specific payments. The latter non-commodity specific market loss
payments were entirely exempted under the de minimis exclusion.
De Minimis Exemptions. To highlight the importance of non-commodity
specific exemptions, total annual U.S. de minimis exclusions have been appended to
amber box payments and compared against the amber box ceiling (Figure 10).
In 1998, U.S. de minimis exemptions (product-specific and non-product-specific
combined) were $4.8 billion. This jumped to over $7 billion per year during 1999-
2001. Non-product-specific crop market loss payments accounted for 71% of U.S.
de minimis exemptions during those same three years, while crop insurance costs
(also declared as non-product specific) accounted for another 21%. If de minimis
exemptions were added to amber box outlays for 1999-2001, the United States
clearly would exceed its $19.1 billion amber box ceiling. As a result, without a
significant shift in market conditions and U.S. program subsidies, any future
reduction in de minimis exemption levels negotiated under the WTO could result in
a constraint on U.S. domestic policy intervention.
16
For more information on these program provisions, see CRS Report RL33271, Farm
Commodity Programs: Direct Payments, Counter-Cyclical Payments, and Marketing Loans.
CRS-19
Figure 11. U.S. AMS Outlays by Commodity, 1995-2001
20
Others*
Sugar
15 Cotton
Corn
Soybeans
10 Dairy
5
0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Source: USDA/ERS, WTO database, and recent U.S. notifications.
*Includes peanuts, wheat, rice, tobacco, other coarse grains, minor oilseeds,
apples, wool, honey, sheep and lambs, cranberries, mohair, apricots, etc.
AMS Spending by Commodity. In terms of commodity-specific domestic
support, thirteen commodity groupings received 99% of U.S. domestic subsidies paid
out during 1995-2001. However, the actual spending is concentrated among the top
five most highly subsidized commodity groups -- dairy, soybeans, corn, cotton, and
sugar -- which have accounted for 87% of total AMS outlays during the same
period (see Appendix Table 12 and Figure 11).
Dairy price supports were the largest single category of annual U.S. amber box
spending accounting for 42% or $4.5 billion per year. Soybeans and corn -- the two
largest crops produced in the United States in terms of both area and volume17 --
ranked second and third as AMS recipients, respectively, with average annual subsidy
payments of $1.6 billion and $1.2 billion, and total AMS shares of 15% and 11%.
Both soybean and corn subsidies are predominantly from payments made under
special marketing loan provisions that include loan deficiency payments (LDPs) and
marketing loan gains. Cotton and sugar subsidies each averaged about $1.1 billion
per year with 10% shares, respectively, of annual AMS outlays. Sugar subsidies are
derived entirely from the U.S.-international price wedge, while cotton subsidies
originated from several programs including marketing loan provision payments, the
Step-2 user marketing payments, and ad hoc market loss payments. Subsidies to
peanuts, wheat, rice, and tobacco comprise most of the "Other" category.
17
For comparisons of crop values, see USDA, ERS, "Farm Income and Costs: Farm Sector
Income," at [http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/FarmIncome/ nationalestimates.htm].
CRS-20
Figure 12. U.S. Green Box Outlays by Major Category,
1995-2001
60
50
40
30
20 Other*
Decoupled Payments
General Services
10
Domestic Food Aid
0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Source: USDA/ERS, WTO database, and recent U.S. notifications.
*Includes natural disaster relief, resource retirement programs, and
environmental payments.
The July 2004 "Framework Agreement" of the current Doha Round of WTO
trade negotiations includes a proposal for spending caps on product-specific AMS.18
Although the details of such a product-specific AMS cap are yet to be worked out
and agreed upon, the framework proposal suggests that growth in such spending
could be unavailable or highly restricted under a new trade agreement.
Green Box Exemptions. During 1995-2001, U.S. green box exemptions
averaged nearly $50 billion per year and accounted for 43% of total WTO member
green box outlays (Appendix Table 13 and Figure 12). During the Uruguay Round,
WTO trade negotiators deemed green box programs to be more virtuous (i.e., cause
less market distortion) than amber box programs. As a result, subsidies that qualify
for the green box may be used without any spending limitation.
The most prominent example of U.S. green box policies is the WTO category
of domestic food aid, which includes food stamps, the women, infants, and children
(WIC) program, and various child nutrition programs. U.S. exempt subsidies under
the domestic food aid category averaged $34.9 billion during 1995-2001 and
accounted for 70% of total U.S. green box outlays. General services, which includes
administrative costs for various USDA agencies at both the national and state level
(including such activities as meat, grain, and produce inspection, grading, and
marketing activities, etc.) averaged $7.5 billion per year and a 15% share of U.S.
green box outlays. Decoupled payments averaged $4.5 billion per year and a 9%
18
For more information, see CRS Report RS21905, Agriculture in the WTO Doha Round:
The Framework Agreement and Next Steps.
CRS-21
share. Finally, various other programs including the Conservation Reserve Program,
crop disaster payments, and diverse environmental payments averaged $3 billion per
year and a 6% share.
During the 1995-2001 period, decoupled payments consisted primarily of
Production Flexibility Contract (PFC) payments made under the Agricultural Market
Transition Act (AMTA; Title I of the 1996 farm law). Under this law, those who
formerly were enrolled in the annual USDA crop price and income support programs
for grains and cotton, and who signed contracts, received a fixed but declining annual
payment, totaling $36 billion over the seven-year term of the law (1996-2002). The
level of each recipient's annual subsidy -- known variously as a "Freedom to Farm,"
"transition," "PFC," or "contract" payment -- initially was determined by a farm's
past level of production of these particular crops, but these payments bore no relation
to current production patterns. As a result, PFC payments were eligible to be placed
in the green box because they were "decoupled," according to U.S. officials.
In the 2002 Farm Act, PFC payments were replaced by a similar direct payment
(DP) based on historical area and yields. Although, the new DP payments have not
yet been notified, it is expected that the Administration will continue to classify them
as "decoupled" and, therefore, exempt them under the green box. However, this
classification has been brought into question by a March 2, 2005, appellate ruling in
a WTO dispute settlement case (DS267) brought by Brazil against the U.S. cotton
program.19 A WTO dispute settlement panel found that U.S. direct payments do not
qualify for WTO green box exemption from AMS reduction commitments as fully
decoupled income support because of a prohibition on the planting of fruits,
vegetables, and wild rice on covered program acreage. However, the panel did not
specifically reclassify U.S. PFC or DP payments as amber box, nor did the panel
recommend that the United States should notify such future payments as amber box.
Blue Box Exemptions. Since U.S. target-price deficiency payments were
ended in the 1996 Farm Act, the United States has not notified any other domestic
support subsidies in the blue box. However, the 2002 Farm Act included a new
program provision -- counter-cyclical payments (CCP) -- which could potentially
fall into the blue box exemption category.
Under the CCP program, a target price was established for each unit (i.e.,
bushel, pound, or hundredweight) of grains, cotton, and oilseeds. CCP payments
occur when the national average market price falls below the target price (after
adjusting for per unit direct payments), with the CCP payment making up the
difference between the adjusted target price and the market price. Thus, CCP
payments tend to rise when market prices decline, and to decrease as market prices
rise. As with the fixed direct payments, each eligible producer's CCP is based on an
historical, not current, period of production. In other words, unlike the old target
price program (in place before the 1996 farm bill), the new payments are "decoupled"
from current output because the producer does not have to produce any particular
crop to receive the payment.
19
See CRS Report RL32571, U.S.-Brazil WTO Cotton Subsidy Dispute.
CRS-22
Because CCP payments did not start until 2002, the United States has yet to
notify them to the WTO. However, under the current Doha Round of WTO trade
negotiations the United States has been negotiating to have blue box criteria be
redefined to include CCP payments.20 Some other WTO members have argued that,
because CCP payments are directly tied to market prices and no acreage limitations
are required, they should be notified in the amber box. Further, it is also unknown
whether such payments would be considered non-commodity specific (on the
argument that producers do not have to plant a particular crop in the year a payment
might be triggered), or commodity-specific (on the argument that they are, in fact,
based on the production of a specific crop, even if it was in the past).
If CCP payments ultimately are counted toward the $19.1 billion AMS limit, it
is unclear whether this would force cuts in other program spending to keep the U.S.
within the AMS spending ceiling. Future market prices are difficult to predict, in
turn making future subsidy levels uncertain.
WTO "Circuit Breaker"
The 2002 farm act (P.L. 107-171) contains a provision [Sec. 1601(e)(1)] in the
commodity title (Title I) aimed at ensuring that future farm program benefits do not
exceed the United States' annual WTO limit. This has been termed informally as the
"circuit breaker." More specifically, if USDA determines that total spending for
commodity support will exceed the limit in any year, the Secretary shall, to the
maximum extent practicable, make program adjustments to ensure that such
expenditures do not exceed such allowable limits. Despite the high levels of support
since 1998, the United States so far has remained within its prescribed WTO annual
support limits and, therefore, use of the WTO circuit breaker has never been tested.
Critics have questioned the feasibility of implementing the "circuit breaker."
Besides the political difficulties of proposing farm program cutbacks, USDA would
face administrative problems. As already noted, projections of both private market
conditions and government farm spending are notoriously imprecise. That is one
reason the USDA analysts who prepare the WTO notifications must wait until after
the end of the marketing year, when all spending and program details become
available. More time, typically, is needed to review and calculate expenditures, and
organize them into WTO formats and categories.
If such calculations were made in advance and USDA found that farm support
might exceed the allowable AMS, would it have to withhold from farmers some or
all of the year's expected subsidy? Which commodities and/or supports would be
affected -- some of them, or would USDA make an across-the-board reduction?
How would that affect farmers' planting decisions and their access to loans? What
if USDA wrongly predicted that spending would not exceed the allowable AMS, but
it ultimately did? Defenders of the provision counter that the provision would not
be as complicated as critics contend, suggesting that relatively modest adjustments
in programs and payment levels could be made easily on an as-needed basis.
20
WTO, WTO Agricultural Negotiations: The Issues, and Where We Are Now, Dec.1, 2004,
p. 57; at [http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/agric_e/negs_bkgrnd00_contents_e.htm].
CRS-23
Issues Surrounding Domestic Support Commitments
Foreign competitors are closely monitoring U.S. actions. Some have raised
concerns about increased U.S. farm spending in light of the current WTO
negotiations to further reform agricultural trade, which were initiated in March 2000
and are now continuing under the more comprehensive multilateral trade negotiations
launched at Doha, Qatar, in November 2001.21
Defenders of current U.S. farm policy point out that the EU-15, a chief U.S.
export competitor, continues to spend far more than the United States on domestic
farm aid under current WTO disciplines. They argue that as long as the EU-15
(which nonetheless is still within its permitted annual subsidy limits) and other
foreign countries heavily subsidize their farmers, a "free world market" in agriculture
is illusory, and U.S. farm aid should not be singled out for criticism or unilateral
reductions.
World trade obligations are a factor as Congress begins to consider the issues
relevant to new farm legislation. Most commodity price and income support
provisions are due to expire in 2007.22 Because of the interrelationships between
trade and domestic support policies, lawmakers are interested in what the current
WTO trade commitments stipulate with regard to domestic supports, and how the
various proposals being considered under the current Doha Round of trade
negotiations might further affect U.S. commitments in the future.
Related CRS Reports
CRS Report RS20840, Agriculture in the WTO: Limits on Domestic Spending.
CRS Report RS20858, Agricultural Export Subsidies, Export Credit, and the World
Trade Organization.
CRS Report RS21569, Geographical Indications and WTO Negotiations.
CRS Report RS21905, Agriculture in the WTO Doha Round: The Framework
Agreement and Next Steps.
CRS Report RS20088, Dispute Settlement in the World Trade Organization.
CRS Report RL32645, The Doha Development Agenda: The WTO Framework
Agreement.
CRS Report RL32916, Agriculture in the WTO: Policy Commitments Under the
Agreement on Agriculture.
CRS Report RL32571, U.S.-Brazil WTO Cotton Subsidy Dispute.
21
For a summary of current agricultural negotiating positions in the Doha Round by WTO
members see CRS Report, Agriculture in the WTO Doha Round: The Framework Agreement
and Next Steps; and WTO, Agriculture: Work in the WTO, "The Current Negotiations" at
[http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/agric_e/negoti_e.htm].
22
See CRS Report RS22131, Agriculture: Previewing a Farm Bill.
CRS-24
Appendix Tables
Note on Exchange Rates
The following data tables have been produced from various summary reports
produced by the WTO Committee on Agriculture (see individual appendix table
source notes) and from WTO member notifications.
To facilitate cross-country comparisons of available WTO member notifications,
all data in the appendix tables have been converted to U.S. dollars by CRS using
exchange rate data for each year from the notifications when available, and from the
International Monetary Fund when not. As a result, readers should be aware of the
potential role that exchange rate fluctuations have when reviewing these data tables.
WTO member countries are free to choose the currency in which they notify
their domestic support subsidies. The notification usually includes exchange rate
data for conversion to U.S. dollars for the period in question. However, because the
AMS calculation for a given notification year may involve the summation of
commodity subsidies for different 12-month periods, there is some flexibility in how
exchange rates may be reported or applied to the notification data.
An obvious exchange-rate influence is as follows. Because member countries
initially agreed to freeze their AMS at base levels, then reduce it gradually during an
implementation period, the cumulative AMS should show a steady decline from 1995
through 2004, after which it stabilizes at its lowest point. However, fluctuations in
the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies -- particularly a
weakening of the U.S. dollar from 2001 through the present -- have resulted in
substantial variability and a slight rise in the aggregate AMS when reported in U.S.
dollars (see Appendix Tables 3 and 4).
CRS-25
Appendix Table 1. WTO Domestic Support (DS)
Notification Requirements
Who Frequency
Must
Table Label Table Contents Notify Annual Other
(See notes below for details)
Table DS:1 Current total Aggregate Measure of a b
Support
Supporting Table DS:1 Green Box Outlays (e) a b
Supporting Table DS:2 Special and Differential Treatment (SDT) a b
Measures (e)
Supporting Table DS:3 Direct Payments Under Production- a b
Limiting Programs (Blue Box) (e)
Supporting Table DS:4 Calculation of the Current Total AMS (f) a b
Supporting Table DS:5 Product-Specific AMS: Market Price a b
Support
Supporting Table DS:6 Product-Specific AMS: Non-Exempt a b
Direct Payment
Supporting Table DS:7 Other Product-Specific AMS and Total a b
Product-Specific AMS (f)
Supporting Table DS:8 Product-Specific Equivalent a b
Measurements of Support
Supporting Table DS:9 Non-Product-Specific AMS (f) a b
Table DS:2 New or Modified Domestic Support c d
Measures Exempt from Reductions
Source: WTO, "Notification Requirements and Formats," G/AG/2, June 30, 1995; available at
[http://docsonline.wto.org/]. Under the Agreement on Agriculture the notification requirement for
domestic support is under Articles 18.2 and 18.3.
Notes:
a. All WTO members (except least-developed countries) must notify annually. For Members with
no base and annual commitment levels as shown in Section I of Part IV of their Schedule, the
WTO Committee on Agriculture may, at the request of a developing country member, set aside
this requirement for Supporting Tables DS:4 to DS:9. Least-developed members should submit
Supporting Tables DS:1 to DS:3 every two years. Where no support exists, a statement to this
effect should be made.
b. To be submitted no later than 120 days after the year in question.
c. All WTO members with base and annual commitment levels as shown in Section I of Part IV
of their Schedule.
d. No specific timetable is given for notification of Table DS:2.
e. Measures exempt from reduction commitment.
f. There are no specific instructions or guidelines included in the DS Supporting Tables regarding
the calculation of de minimis support levels. Product-specific de minimis are usually reported
in Supporting Table DS:4 or Supporting Table DS:7. Non-production-specific de minimis is
normally reported in Supporting Table DS:9.
CRS-26
Appendix Table 2. Submission Status of Domestic Support
Notifications by WTO Members, 1995-2004
# Country 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
1 Argentina 1 1 1 1 1 1 -- -- -- --
2 Australia 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 --
3 Brazil 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 --
4 Bulgaria n.m. n.m. 1 1 1 1 1 -- -- --
5 Canada 1 1 1 1 1 1 -- -- -- --
6 Colombia 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 --
7 Costa Rica 1 1 1 1 1 -- -- -- -- --
8 Croatia n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. -- -- -- --
9 Cyprus 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 --
10 Czech Rep. 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 -- --
11 Eur. Union-15 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 -- -- --
12 F.Y.R.Macedonia n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. 1 --
13 Hungary 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 -- --
14 Iceland 1 1 1 1 1 1 -- -- -- --
15 Israel 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 -- --
16 Japan 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 -- --
17 Jordan n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. 1 1 1 -- --
18 Korea, Rep. 1 1 1 1 1 1 -- -- -- --
19 Lithuania n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. -- -- -- --
20 Mexico 1 1 1 1 -- -- -- -- -- --
21 Moldova n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. -- -- -- --
22 Morocco 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 -- --
23 New Zealand 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 --
24 Norway 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 -- -- --
25 Papua N.Guinea n.m. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
26 Poland 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 -- --
27 Slovak Rep. 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 --
28 Slovenia 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 --
29 South Africa 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 -- --
30 Switz.-Liecht. 1 1 1 1 -- -- -- -- -- --
31 Chinese Taipei n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. -- -- --
32 Thailand 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 -- -- --
33 Tunisia 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 -- -- --
34 United States 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 -- -- --
35 Venezuela 1 1 1 1 -- -- -- -- -- --
Notifications received 27 27 28 28 25 25 21 15 8 0
Share of Potential (%) 100% 96% 97% 97% 86% 83% 64% 44% 23% 0%
Members with AMS
commitments 27 28 29 29 29 30 33 34 35 35
Source: WTO documents, TN/AG/S/13, Jan. 27, 2005; TN/AG/S/4, Mar. 20, 2002; and member
notifications received through June 1, 2005; available at [http://docsonline.wto.org/].
Notes:
`1' signifies that a notification has been received by the WTO Committee on Agriculture.
`n.m.' implies that a country was not yet a member in that particular year.
` -- ' signifies that a notification is overdue or, in the case of 2004, may not yet be due.
CRS-27
Appendix Table 3. Amber Box Annual Spending Ceiling,
by WTO Member (Ranked by 2004 Bound Level), 1995-2004
# Country FIYa 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
U.S. $Billion
Total AMS Permitted 208.5 188.8 172.3 161.6 154.1 141.8 137.2 148.5 162.1 167.3
1 Eur. Union-15 2000 101.3 91.7 83.5 78.4 69.1 59.8 60.1 70.1 80.0 83.3
2 Japan 2000 49.8 41.2 36.4 33.6 37.1 35.9 31.8 32.6 35.1 36.3
3 U.S.A. 2000 23.1 22.3 21.5 20.7 19.9 19.1 19.1 19.1 19.1 19.1
4 Mexico 2004 9.5 9.4 9.2 9.1 9.0 8.8 8.7 8.6 8.5 8.3
5 Canada 2000 3.8 3.7 3.4 3.1 3.0 2.8 2.7 2.9 3.2 3.4
6 Switz.-Liecht. 2000 4.3 4.0 3.3 3.2 2.9 2.5 2.5 2.7 3.2 3.4
7 Poland 2000 4.0 3.9 3.7 3.6 3.5 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3
8 Norway 2000 2.2 2.1 1.8 1.6 1.5 1.3 1.3 1.4 1.6 1.7
9 Korea, Rep 2004 2.8 2.6 2.1 1.4 1.6 1.6 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3
10 Venezuela 2004 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.1
11 Brazil 2004 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.9
12 Bulgaria 2001 n.m. 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.6
13 Israel 2004 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6
14 Czech Rep. 2000 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.5
15 Thailand 2004 0.9 0.8 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.5
16 Chinese Taipei 2000b n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4
17 Colombia 2004 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.3
18 Australia 2000 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3
19 Slovak Rep. 2000 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3
20 South Africa 2000 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3
21 Iceland 2000 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2
22 New Zealand 2000 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2
23 Hungary 2000 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2
24 Cyprus 2004 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
25 Lithuania 2005 n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
26 Morocco 2004 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
27 Slovenia 2000 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
28 Tunisia 2004 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
29 Papua N.Guinea 2004 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
30 Argentina 2004 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0
31 FYR Macedonia 2003 n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. 0.0 0.0
32 Moldova 2004 n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
33 Costa Rica 2004 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
34 Jordan 2006 n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
35 Croatia 2004 n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Source: WTO documents, TN/AG/S/13, January 27, 2005, and TN/AG/S/4, March 20, 2002.
a
Final implementation year. In general, developed countries had a six-year implementation period
(1995-2001) and developing countries had a nine-year implementation period (1995-2004). Members
that joined after January 1, 1995, negotiated their implementation period in their country schedule.
b
Chinese Taipei joined the WTO on Jan. 1, 2002; however, accession negotiations were completed
prior to its accession. (For political reasons, Chinese Taipei could not accede to the WTO before
Mainland China.) During its accession negotiations, Chinese Taipei committed to complete the phase-
downs of its total AMS by 2000.
Notes:
Members generally notify in their local currency units (LCU). The conversion of AMS spending
bounds to U.S. $billion was done by CRS for each individual year using official WTO data on member
CRS-28
AMS and exchange rate data from the International Monetary Fund, and do not represent official
WTO data.
In LCUs, the AMS spending bounds decline overtime for individual countries and for the aggregate
membership. However, exchange rate fluctuations, particularly the weakness of the U.S. dollar
relative to most other currencies since 2001, have resulted in a rising AMS spending limit for the
aggregate total as well as for many individual countries, most notably the EU-15 and Japan.
`n.m.' implies that a country was not yet a member in that particular year.
Data are rounded to nearest billion, thus, a zero value implies that the AMS bound was less than U.S.
$0.5 billion.
CRS-29
Appendix Table 4. Amber Box Spending as Notified by
WTO Members (Ranked by Annual Average), 1995-2004
# Country Avga 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
U.S. $Billion
Total (Notified) 86.4 119.2 107.5 99.0 77.0 76.7 67.7 58.4 7.7 0.3 0.0
1 Eur. Union-15 50.7 64.4 61.3 56.6 51.0 47.6 38.9 35.2 -- -- --
2 Japan 16.6 36.4 29.6 25.8 6.0 6.7 6.4 5.3 6.0 -- --
3 United States 11.0 6.2 5.9 6.2 10.4 16.9 16.8 14.4 -- -- --
4 Switz.-Liecht. 2.8 3.6 3.0 2.4 2.3 -- -- -- -- -- --
5 Korea, Rep. 1.8 2.7 2.4 2.0 1.1 1.3 1.5 -- -- -- --
6 Norway 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.4 1.2 1.2 -- -- --
7 Mexico 0.8 0.5 0.3 1.1 1.3 -- -- -- -- -- --
8 Canada 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.6 -- -- -- --
9 Thailand 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.4 -- -- --
10 Israel 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 -- --
11 Venezuela 0.4 0.5 0.3 0.5 0.2 -- -- -- -- -- --
12 Poland 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.4 -- --
13 Hungary 0.3 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.5 0.3 0.4 0.6 0.7 -- --
14 South Africa 0.2 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 -- --
15 Slovak Rep. 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.1 --
16 Iceland 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.2 -- -- -- --
17 Australia 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 --
18 Argentina 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 -- -- -- --
19 Czech Rep. 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 -- --
20 Slovenia 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 --
21 Cyprus 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 --
22 Tunisia 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 -- -- --
23 Brazil 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 --
24 Colombia 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 --
25 Morocco 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 -- --
26 Bulgaria 0.0 n.m. n.m. 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 -- -- --
27 Costa Rica 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 -- -- -- -- --
28 New Zealand 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 --
29 Papua N.Guinea 0.0 n.m. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
30 Croatia 0.0 n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. -- -- -- --
31 FYR Macedonia 0.0 n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. 0.0 --
32 Jordan 0.0 n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. 0.0 0.0 0.0 -- --
33 Lithuania 0.0 n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. -- -- -- --
34 Moldova 0.0 n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. -- -- -- --
35 Chinese Taipei 0.0 n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. -- -- --
Source: WTO documents, TN/AG/S/13, January 27, 2005; TN/AG/S/4, March 20, 2002. The table
reflects member notifications received through June 1, 2005.
a
Average for 1995-2001 or available years within that same period.
Notes:
Members generally notify in their local currency. The conversion of AMS outlays to U.S. $billion was
done by CRS using official WTO data on member AMS and exchange rate data from the
International Monetary Fund, and do not represent official WTO data.
`n.m.' implies that a country was not yet a member in that particular year.
Data are rounded to nearest billion, thus, a zero value implies that the AMS bound was less than U.S.
$0.5 billion.
` -- ' signifies that a notification is overdue or, in the case of 2004, may not yet be due.
CRS-30
Appendix Table 5. Green Box Exemptions, as Notified by
WTO Members (Ranked by Annual Average), 1995-2004
a
# Country Avg 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
U.S. $Billion
Total (Notified) 115.1 129.3 130.2 119.4 112.9 108.5 107.5 98.3 25.4 5.3 0.0
1 United States 49.9 46.0 51.8 51.3 49.8 49.7 50.1 50.7 -- -- --
2 Japan 24.4 32.9 25.0 21.6 23.4 24.1 23.2 20.4 18.7 -- --
3 EU-15 21.4 24.2 26.6 20.5 21.0 19.8 19.5 18.5 -- -- --
4 Korea, Rep. 5.1 5.2 6.4 6.1 3.8 4.6 4.5 -- -- -- --
5 Brazil 2.6 4.9 2.6 3.5 2.4 1.6 1.5 1.5 0.9 0.8 --
6 India 2.5 2.2 2.5 2.9 -- -- -- -- -- -- --
7 Switz.-Liecht. 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.1 2.2 -- -- -- -- -- --
8 Cubab 1.3 0.9 1.1 1.2 1.6 1.2 1.4 1.5 1.8 2.3
9 Canada 1.2 1.5 1.5 0.9 0.9 1.2 1.5 -- -- -- --
10 Thailand 1.2 1.3 1.6 1.2 1.0 0.9 1.0 1.1 -- -- --
11 Australia 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.7 1.1 1.4 --
12 Poland 0.6 0.4 0.5 0.9 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7 -- --
13 Venezuela 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.6 -- -- -- -- -- --
14 Mexico 0.6 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.5 -- -- -- -- -- --
15 Norway 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.5 -- -- --
16 South Africa 0.5 0.8 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.4 -- --
17 Pakistan 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.2 -- -- -- -- --
18 Israel 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.3 -- --
19 Romania 0.3 0.8 0.6 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 -- --
20 Morocco 0.3 0.2 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 -- --
21 Argentina 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 -- -- -- --
22 Philippines 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.4 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 -- -- --
23 Colombia 0.2 0.3 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.1 0..0 0.1 0.1 0.0 --
24 Malaysia 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.1 -- -- -- -- -- --
25 Czech Rep. 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 -- --
26 Indonesia 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.1 -- -- -- --
27 Chile 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 -- --
28 Cyprus 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 --
29 Peru 0.1 0.1 0.2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
30 Hungary 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 -- --
Rest of Worldc 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.5 0.5 --
Source: USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) WTO database, available at [http://www.ers.usda.
gov/db/wto/]; and WTO member notifications through June 1, 2005.
a
Average for 1995-2001 or available years within that same period.
b
Cuba's exchange rate is set at parity with the U.S. dollar in what is an apparent over-valuation.
c
Includes green box spending notifications during 1995-2001 from an additional 40 WTO members
as of February 2005.
Notes:
Members generally notify in their local currency. The conversion of green box exemptions to U.S.
$billion was done by CRS using official WTO data on member AMS and exchange rate data
from the International Monetary Fund, and do not represent official WTO data.
`n.m.' implies that a country was not yet a member in that particular year.
Data are rounded to nearest billion, thus, a zero value implies that the AMS limit was less than U.S.
$0.5 billion.
` -- ' signifies that a notification is overdue or, in the case of 2004, may not yet be due.
CRS-31
Appendix Table 6. De Minimis Exemptions as Notified by
WTO Members (Ranked by Annual Average), 1995-2004
# Country Avea 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
U.S. $Billion
b
Total (Notified) 9.25 11.29 6.20 5.98 8.59 11.57 11.45 9.68 1.59 1.33 --
1 United States 4.29 1.49 1.18 0.81 4.75 7.43 7.34 7.05 -- -- --
2 India 2.63 5.96 0.93 1.00 -- -- -- -- -- -- --
3 Canada 0.81 0.92 0.83 0.67 0.73 0.74 0.95 -- -- -- --
4 Brazil 0.66 0.30 0.36 0.31 0.41 1.25 1.05 0.98 1.02 1.32 --
5 EU-15 0.65 1.06 0.91 0.61 0.41 0.31 0.50 0.77 -- -- --
6 Korea, Rep. 0.49 0.37 0.43 0.69 0.56 0.41 0.46 -- -- -- --
7 Japan 0.35 0.38 0.33 0.29 0.59 0.29 0.29 0.26 0.36 -- --
8 Turkey 0.30 0.04 0.29 0.47 0.59 0.40 0.21 0.06 -- -- --
9 Peru 0.25 0.22 0.25 0.28 -- -- -- -- -- -- --
10 Romania 0.18 0.00 0.00 0.32 0.33 0.16 0.26 0.22 0.07 -- --
11 Hungary 0.13 0.17 0.23 0.22 0.04 0.24 0.00 0.01 0.05 -- --
12 Israel 0.12 0.21 0.18 0.14 0.09 0.09 0.07 0.08 0.03 -- --
13 South Africa 0.06 0.17 0.20 0.07 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -- --
14 Philippines 0.05 0.01 0.04 0.02 0.03 0.09 0.10 0.06 -- -- --
15 Thailand 0.03 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.03 0.10 0.07 -- -- --
16 Jordan 0.03 n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. 0.03 0.02 0.02 -- --
17 Bulgaria 0.02 n.m. n.m. 0.03 0.01 0.03 0.02 0.01 -- -- --
18 Latvia 0.02 n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. 0.01 0.02 0.02 -- -- --
19 Chile 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.02 0.03 0.00 0.04 0.03 -- --
20 Uruguay 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 -- -- --
21 Tunisia 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.01 -- -- --
22 Australia 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 -- --
23 Pakistan 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.00 -- -- -- -- --
24 Cyprus 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 -- --
25 Poland 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -- --
c
Rest of World 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Source: WTO document TN/AG/S/16, Feb. 1, 2005; and member notifications through June 1, 2005.
a
Average for 1995-2001 or available years within that same period.
b
For WTO members with no scheduled AMS reduction commitments, domestic support notified in
Supporting Tables DS:4 to DS:9 must be maintained within the relevant product-specific and non-
production-specific de minimis levels.
c
Includes notifications with de minimis exemptions for at least one year during 1995-2001, from an
additional 40 WTO members as of February 2005.
Notes:
Members generally notify in their local currency. The conversion of de minimis exemptions to U.S.
$billion was done by CRS using official WTO data on member AMS and exchange rate data
from the International Monetary Fund, and do not represent official WTO data.
`n.m.' implies that a country was not yet a member in that particular year.
Data are rounded to nearest billion, thus, a zero value implies that the AMS bound was less than U.S.
$0.5 billion.
` -- ' signifies that a notification is overdue or, in the case of 2004, may not yet be due.
CRS-32
Appendix Table 7. Blue Box Exemptions as Notified by
WTO Members (Ranked by Annual Average), 1995-2004
# Country Avga 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
U.S. $Billion
Total (Notified) 24.7 35.0 27.0 24.1 23.5 20.7 20.7 22.1 0.1 0.1 0.0
1 EU-15 22.7 26.9 25.9 23.0 22.4 19.7 19.8 21.2 -- -- --
2 United States 1.0 7.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 -- -- --
3 Norway 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.8 -- -- --
4 Estonia 0.0 n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. n.m. 0.0 0.0 0.0 -- --
5 Slovenia 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 --
6 Iceland 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 -- -- -- --
7 Czech Rep. 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 -- --
8 Slovak Rep. 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 --
9 Japan 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 -- --
Source: WTO document TN/AG/S/14, January 29, 2005, and member notifications through June 1,
2005.
a
Average for 1995-2001 or available years within that same period.
Notes:
Members generally notify in their local currency. The conversion of blue box exemptions to U.S.
$billion was done by CRS using official WTO data on member AMS and exchange rate data
from the International Monetary Fund, and do not represent official WTO data.
`n.m.' implies that a country was not yet a member in that particular year.
Data are rounded to nearest billion, thus, a zero value implies that the AMS bound was less than U.S.
$0.5 billion.
` -- ' signifies that a notification is overdue or, in the case of 2004, may not yet be due.
CRS-33
Appendix Table 8. Special and Differential Treatment (SDT)
Exemptions as Notified by WTO Members
(Ranked by Cumulative Total), 1995-2001
# Country 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Cumulativea Share
U.S. $Million %
Total SDT
2,473 7,081 6,367 1,062 614 735 805 19,137 100%
Exemptions
1 India 254 4,855 5,171 -- -- -- -- 10,280 54%
2 Brazil 359 269 281 373 156 310 84 2,079 11%
3 Thailand 213 479 170 124 83 67 0 1,220 6%
4 Mexico 644 226 199 128 -- -- 127 1,197 6%
5 Morocco 148 145 155 150 148 143 78 1,015 5%
6 Turkey 0 679 0 0 0 0 77 679 4%
7 Philippines 244 53 72 47 40 73 61 606 3%
8 Colombia 132 141 76 45 40 58 -- 570 3%
9 Venezuela 178 38 63 47 -- -- -- 326 2%
10 Tunisia 31 32 30 46 53 46 -- 299 2%
11 Korea 26 38 40 30 52 -- -- 186 1%
12 Costa Rica 133 15 14 7 1 -- -- 170 1%
13 Malaysia 47 36 41 35 -- -- -- 159 1%
14 Sri Lanka 27 35 26 -- -- -- -- 88 0%
15 Cyprus 3 3 4 8 8 7 16 49 0%
16 Uruguay 5 14 7 8 5 6 3 48 0%
17 Cuba 0 0 0 0 13 18 15 46 0%
18 Chile 4 4 3 3 4 3 9 30 0%
19 Barbados 3 4 1 6 7 1 1 22 0%
20 Namibia 3 2 4 3 3 -- -- 15 0%
21 Honduras 1 7 3 0 0 1 2 14 0%
22 Egypt 7 2 2 2 -- -- -- 13 0%
23 Paraguay 9 0 0 0 1 1 0 11 0%
24 Bahrain 2 3 2 -- -- -- -- 7 0%
25 U.A.E. -- 0 0 0 0 2 2 5 0%
26 Fiji -- 0 2 -- -- -- -- 2 0%
Rest of World 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0%
Source: WTO document TN/AG/S/4, March 20, 2002; and notifications through June 1, 2005.
a
Cumulative is for 1995-2001 or available years within that same period.
Notes:
Members generally notify in their local currency. The conversion of SDT exemptions to U.S. $billion
was done by the WTO using official exchange rate data reported on member notifications.
` -- ' signifies that a notification was not yet received at the time that the WTO source report was
issued.
CRS-34
Appendix Table 9. Comparison of Total Domestic Support:
EU-15, United States, Japan, and Rest-of-World, 1995-2001
Year EU-15 United States Japan Rest of World Total
U.S. $ Billion
Amber box (AMS)
1995 64.4 6.2 36.8 12.2 119.2
1996 61.3 5.9 29.8 10.8 107.5
1997 56.6 6.2 25.8 10.4 99.0
1998 51.0 10.4 6.0 9.6 77.0
1999 47.6 16.9 6.7 5.4 76.7
2000 38.9 16.8 6.4 5.6 67.7
2001 35.2 14.4 5.3 3.5 58.4
De Minimis
1995 1.1 1.5 0.4 8.3 11.3
1996 0.9 1.2 0.3 3.8 6.2
1997 0.6 0.8 0.3 4.3 6.0
1998 0.4 4.8 0.6 2.8 8.6
1999 0.3 7.4 0.3 3.5 11.6
2000 0.5 7.3 0.3 3.3 11.4
2001 0.8 7.0 0.3 1.6 9.7
Blue box
1995 26.8 7.0 0.0 1.1 35.0
1996 25.8 0.0 0.0 1.1 27.0
1997 23.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 24.1
1998 22.4 0.0 0.0 1.0 23.5
1999 19.7 0.0 0.8 1.0 21.5
2000 19.8 0.0 0.8 0.9 21.5
2001 21.2 0.0 0.7 0.9 22.8
Green box
1995 24.2 46.0 32.9 26.3 129.3
1996 26.6 51.8 25.0 26.8 130.2
1997 20.5 51.3 21.6 26.0 119.4
1998 21.0 49.8 23.4 18.7 112.9
1999 19.8 49.7 24.1 14.8 108.5
2000 19.5 50.1 23.2 14.8 107.5
2001 18.5 50.7 20.4 8.8 98.3
Total
1995 120.2 60.8 70.4 39.7 291.1
1996 121.2 58.9 55.3 31.4 266.8
1997 99.4 58.3 47.8 34.3 239.8
1998 97.3 65.0 30.4 29.2 221.9
1999 91.7 74.0 31.8 18.7 216.2
2000 80.4 74.2 31.3 16.0 201.9
2001 74.7 72.1 26.7 15.5 189.2
Source: USDA/ERS, WTO database, and WTO member notifications through June 1, 2005.
Conversions to U.S. dollars are by CRS and do not represent official WTO data.
CRS-35
Appendix Table 10. U.S. Domestic Support: Amber Box
Categories and De Minimis Exemptions, 1995-2001
Base Average
AMS Policy category (a) 1986-88 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 1995-01
$ Million
1. Market Price Support (b) 6,956 6,213 5,919 5,816 5,776 5,921 5,840 5,826 5,902
Dairy 5409 4,693 4,674 4,455 4,332 4,437 4,377 4,483 4,493
Sugar 1,041 1,108 937 1,045 1,093 1,180 1,133 1,032 1,076
Peanuts 347 412 308 315 350 303 330 311 333
Beef (c) 158 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2. Non-Exempt Direct Pmts (d) 12,393 88 7 578 4,437 10,403 10,567 8,435 4,931
Loan Def. Payment 56 0 0 3 2,780 6,210 6,273 5,593 2,980
Marketing-Loan Gain 387 0 0 161 1,039 1,685 733 610 604
Certificate-Exch. Gains 0 0 0 0 6 175 619 1,975 396
Cotton Step-2 payments 0 35 6 416 280 446 237 182 229
Other non-exempt pymnts 2,244 88 7 414 613 2,332 2,943 256 951
3. Total Other Support (e) 1,995 10 12 80 338 567 457 367 262
Storage payments 573 4 0 24 78 144 43 62 51
Interest subsidies 1,599 115 78 141 344 443 466 367 279
NE dairy compact benefits 0 0 0 0 28 55 20 0 15
Fees paid by producers (177) (109) (67) (84) (112) (74) (72) (62) (83)
4. Product-Specific Totals
21,343 6,311 5,937 6,475 10,550 16,891 16,865 14,628 11,094
(= 1 + 2 + 3)
5. Non-prod-specific support 901 1,543 1,113 568 4,584 7,406 7,278 6,828 4,189
Crop market loss payments 0 0 0 0 2,811 5,468 5,463 4,640 2626
Crop insurance costs 289 906 633 120 747 1,514 1,396 1,770 1,012
Irrg. subsidies-W. States 543 543 381 348 348 316 316 300 365
Other 69 94 99 100 677 108 103 118 186
For Non-Specific "De Minimis" (DM) Calculations
5% of value of prod. (f) 7,146 9,505 10,285 10,194 9,544 9,237 9,476 9,925 9,738
6. Total Before Exemptions
22,245 7,855 7,051 7,042 15,134 24,297 24,143 21,456 15,283
(= 4 + 5)
7. Exemptions 1,634 (1,642) (1,174) (812) (4,750) (7,435) (7,341) (7,045) (4,314)
Non-prod-specific DM (f) (901) (1,543) (1,113) (568) (4,584) (7,406) (7,278) (6,828) (4,189)
Prod-specific DM. (f) (692) (99) (61) (244) (166) (29) (63) (217) (126)
Credit in base period (g) 3,228 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8. Total Non-Exempt AMS
23,879 6,212 5,876 6,231 10,384 16,862 16,802 14,411 10,968
Outlays (= 6 + 7)
9. AMS Ceiling (h) 23,879 23,083 22,287 21,491 20,695 19,899 19,103 19,103 20,809
10. Unused AMS Ceiling -- 16,869 16,390 15,253 10,303 3,037 2,301 4,690 9,835
Source: USDA/ERS, WTO database at [http://www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/farmpolicy/usnotify.htm]
and recent U.S. notifications to the WTO.
(See following page for notes.)
CRS-36
Notes:
a. Categories correspond to those in official domestic support notifications to the WTO, as shown
in Supporting Tables DS: 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9. Domestic support is measured by WTO index called
the aggregate measurement of support (AMS).
b. Market price support is total eligible production times the difference between the current
administered price and the fixed, 1986-1988 world reference price.
c. The United States also notified the value of beef purchases made to offset the effect of the dairy
herd buy-out program. No fixed world reference price was used.
d. See Table 3 for details on non-exempt direct payments. Support in the 1986-1988 base period
was defined to include payments related to production reduction programs. Such payments were
exempt (excluded) from the AMS reduction commitments after the base period and were
notified in Supporting Table DS:3 (blue box). U.S. deficiency payments included in the blue
box were re-calculated using a fixed, 1986-88 reference price. The 1995 value in the blue box
was $7,030 million. This payment was eliminated after 1995 by the 1996 Farm Act.
e. Product-specific support only.
f. Under the de minimis provision, if the calculated individual product support level or the
non-product-specific total is not larger than 5% of its respective total value of production, the
support does not have to be included in the current total AMS.
g. For the 1986-1988 base period only, countries could increase their AMS by using the higher of
the 1986 value or the 1986-1988 value. The U.S. increased its AMS by $3,227 million. This
was done to give credit for reductions in support already accomplished during the first three
years of the Uruguay Round.
h. Under the Uruguay Round Agreement, the AMS commitment ceiling was derived as the
1986-1988 base value minus 3.3% per year during 1995 through 2000 (20% divided by 6 years
= 3.33333%).
CRS-37
Appendix Table 11. U.S. AMS:
Non-Exempt Direct Payments, 1995-2001
Base Average
Policy Category 1986-88 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 1995-01
$ Million
Total (a) 12393 88 7 578 4,437 10403 10,567 8,435 4931
Loan deficiency pmts 56 0 0 3 2,780 6,210 6,273 5,593 2,980
Marketing loan gains 387 0 0 161 1,039 1,685 733 610 604
Certificate exchange gains 0 0 0 0 6 175 619 1,975 396
Cotton: Step-2 pmts 0 35 6 416 280 446 237 182 229
Oilseed mkt loss pmts 0 0 0 0 0 460 921 0 197
Dairy: mkt loss/def. pmts 0 0 0 0 200 122 673 0 142
Tobacco: mkt loss/quota loss 0 0 0 0 0 328 471 6 115
Tobacco: Forfeiture subsidy 0 0 0 0 0 602 0 0 86
Apples: mkt loss pmts 0 0 0 0 0 95 169 0 38
Cotton: Cottonseed pmts 0 0 0 0 0 0 185 0 26
Peanuts mkt loss pmts 0 0 0 0 0 55 118 0 25
Hogs and pigs pmts (SHOP) 0 0 0 0 123 0 0 0 18
Wool mkt loss or support pmts 78 38 0 0 0 9 33 0 11
Cottonseed mkt loss pmts 0 0 0 0 0 79 0 0 11
CCC loan forfeit subsidy 780 (0) (0) (2) 2 36 19 20 11
Sugar diversion payments (PIK) 0 0 0 0 0 0 39 27 9
Sheep/lamb meat assistance 0 0 0 0 0 13 10 22 6
Dairy: Indemnities 3 0 0 0 0 36 0 0 5
Potatoes: Quality loss pmts 0 0 0 0 0 14 14 0 4
Cranberry mkt loss pmts 0 0 0 0 0 20 0 0 3
Mohair mkt loss or supp pmts 43 15 0 0 0 2 2 0 3
Potatoes: mkt loss pmts 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 2
Onions pmts 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 1
Apples: Quality loss pmts 0 0 0 0 0 4 5 0 1
Dairy: Production disaster 0 0 0 0 0 9 (0) 0 1
Cotton: Georgia indemnity 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 1
Tomatoes TVmkt loss pmts 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 1
Sugar cooperative pmts 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 1
Peaches TVmkt loss pmts 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 1
Pears TV mkt pmts 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0
Tobacco: Warehouse disaster 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0
Apricots TV mkt loss pmts 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
Rice marketing payments 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tobacco: Settlement pmts 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Cotton: ELS pmts 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Dairy: Vermont pmts 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Cotton: First handler payments 37 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Cotton: Inventory protection 207 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Certificate premiums 207 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Diversion payments 886 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Deficiency pmts (b) 9,706 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source: USDA/ERS, WTO database [http://www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/farmpolicy/ usnotify.htm],and
recent U.S. notifications to the WTO.
Notes:
a. Includes price-related direct payments and other non-exempt direct payments as reported in
WTO notification Supporting Table DS:6.
b. Deficiency payments (which were ended by the 1996 Farm Act) were recalculated from actual
values using a fixed, 1986-88 reference price instead of actual market prices. These payments
are considered to be exempt, blue box payments, hence not part of the AMS.
CRS-38
Appendix Table 12. U.S. AMS Outlays by Commodity, 1995-2001
Policy Category 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Cumulative
Total AMS 6,212 5,876 6,231 10,384 16,862 16,802 14,411 76,779
Dairy 4,655 4,691 4,456 4,560 4,660 5,070 4,483 32,576
Soybeans 0 0 0 1,275 2,856 3,606 3,610 11,348
Corn 0 0 0 1,534 2,554 2,757 1,270 8,114
Cotton 0 0 466 935 2,353 1,050 2,810 7,613
Sugar 1,091 908 1,011 1,055 1,207 1,177 1,061 7,512
Peanuts 415 299 306 340 349 438 305 2,450
Wheat 0 0 0 516 974 847 0 2,337
Rice 0 0 0 0 435 624 763 1,822
Tobacco 0 0 0 0 924 519 0 1,443
Other Coarse Grains (a) 0 0 0 167 224 198 0 589
Minor Oilseeds (b) 0 0 0 10 195 220 90 515
Apples 0 0 0 0 99 175 0 274
Wool 38 0 0 0 9 33 0 80
Honey 0 0 0 0 0 29 0 29
Sheep and lambs 0 0 0 0 0 0 22 22
Cranberries 0 0 0 0 20 0 0 20
Mohair 15 0 0 0 2 2 0 19
Apricots 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2
All other (c) -2 -22 -8 -7 1 54 -3 14
Source: USDA, ERS, WTO database, at [http://www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/farmpolicy/usnotify.htm],
and recent U.S. notifications to the WTO.
Notes for Appendix Table 12:
a. Barley, oats, rye, and sorghum.
b. Canola, crambe, flaxseed, mustard seed, rapeseed, safflower, and sunflower.
c. Includes program overlap across commodities and rounding errors.
CRS-39
Appendix Table 13. U.S. Green Box Exemptions, by Category,
1995-2001
Base Average
Green Box Policy category (a) 1986-88 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 1995-01
$ Million
A. General services 4738 6419 6,550 6,796 7,225 7,693 8,554 9214 7493
State Agr. Programs 2,196 2,785 2,948 3,067 3,334 3,573 4,274 4,349 3,476
Agr. Research Service 522 758 739 770 782 847 887 969 822
CSREES 606 909 851 871 904 877 919 994 904
NRCS 412 599 659 640 628 692 677 720 659
APHIS 316 495 487 507 526 612 661 904 599
FSIS 371 526 537 574 597 604 645 648 590
AMS 122 176 158 162 153 156 179 317 186
Other (b) 193 171 171 205 301 332 312 313 258
B. Food Security Stockholding 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
C. Domestic Food Aid 19,158 37,470 37,834 35,963 33,487 33,050 32,377 33,916 34,871
Food Stamp Program 11,813 25,554 25,422 22,857 20,141 19,005 18,295 19,096 21,481
Child Nutrition Program 4,050 7,499 7,875 8,265 8,565 8,878 9,203 9,560 8,549
WIC 1,711 3,404 3,679 3,866 3,902 3,942 3,950 4,077 3,831
AMS Section 32 378 496 450 550 513 833 543 798 598
Other (c) 1,206 517 408 425 366 392 386 385 411
D. Decoupled Income Support 0 0 5186 6286 5659 5471 5068 4100 4539
Prod. Flex. Contract Pmts 0 0 5,186 6,286 5,659 5,471 5,068 4,100 4539
Decoupled Direct Pmts (d) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
E. Income Ins. & Safety-Net 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
F. Natural Disaster Relief 1388 102 156 161 1,412 1635 2,141 1421 1004
Crop Disaster Pmts 1,332 0 0 0 1,341 1,239 1,834 771 741
Emergency Feed Program 53 74 77 38 0 270 188 427 153
Non-insured Disaster Asst 0 20 61 22 54 44 73 166 63
Other (e) 3 8 18 101 17 82 46 57 47
G. SA: Producer Retir. (f) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
H. SA: Resource Retir. (f) 532 1,732 1,732 1,691 1,688 1,434 1,476 1,624 1625
Conservation Reserve Prog. 194 1,732 1,732 1,691 1,688 1,434 1,476 1,624 1,625
Other (g) 338 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
I. SA: Investment Aids (f) 132 84 88 89 93 134 132 106 104
Farm Credit Programs 132 81 86 86 91 132 130 103 101
State Mediation Grants 0 3 2 3 2 2 2 3 2
J. Environment Payments 202 234 279 266 256 332 309 291 281
Wetland Reserve Prog 0 16 109 80 121 162 120 134 106
EQIP 0 0 0 49 61 92 95 93 56
Agr. Cons. Prog. 166 145 101 64 23 11 4 2 50
Emergency Cons. Prog 6 27 25 32 26 40 65 41 37
Wildlife Habitat Inc. Prog 0 0 0 0 5 11 8 7 4
Other (h) 30 46 44 41 20 16 17 14 28
K. Regional Asst Prog 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Grand Total 26150 46,041 51,825 51252 49,820 49,749 50,057 50,672 49917
Source: USDA, ERS, WTO database at [http://www.ers.usda.gov/ briefing/farmpolicy/usnotify.htm]and recent
U.S. notifications to the WTO.
(See following page for notes.)
CRS-40
Notes:
a. Categories correspond to those described in detail in Annex 2 of the Agreeement on Agriculture,
available at [http://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/legal_e.htm], and as listed in the official
domestic support notifications, Supporting Table DS: 1, to the WTO. All acronyms refer to
official USDA agencies: CSREES=Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension
Service; NRCS= Natural Resources and Conservation Service; APHIS= Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service; FSIS= Food Safety and Inspection Service; AMS= Agricultural
Marketing Service; WIC= Women, Infants, and Children; EQIP=Environmental Quality
Incentives Program. See [http://www.usda.gov] for more information.
b. Tennessee Valley Authority, GIPSA (Grain Inspection, Packers, and Stockyard Administration),
ERS (Economic Research Service), NASS (National Agricultural Statistics Service), WAOB
(World Agricultural Outlook Board), NAL (National Agricultural Library), CCC (Commodity
Credit Corporation)- FSA (Farm Service Agency) conservation program training assistance,
RBCD (Rural Business and Cooperative Development), other USDA administration and
programs.
c. Other USDA food programs and their administration, including Food Donation Program,
Commodity Assistance Program, Commodity Supplemental Food Program, Temporary
Emergency Food Assistance Program, Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, and the
Human Nutrition Information Service.
d. Direct decoupled paymennts (DP) were initiated under the 2002 Farm Act (P.L.107-171). As
a result, no DP expenditures have been notified through 2001.
e. Also includes Flood Compensation Program, American Indian Livestock Feed Program, Tree
Assistance Program, Livestock Indemnity Program, and Emergency Disaster Loans.
f. Three Structural Adjustment (SA) categories are included in the green box: G) Producer
Retirement Programs, H) Resource Retirement Programs, and I) Investment Aids.
g. The base period includes dairy termination program payments.
h. Also includes Great Plains Conservation Program, Colorado Basin Salinity Control, Water Bank
Program, Farms for the Future, and Farmland Protection Program.
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