
Article 1 
The position to be taken on the Union’s behalf within the General Council of the World Trade Organization (the ‘General Council of the WTO’) in its December 2019 meeting shall be based on the draft decision by the General Council of the WTO adopting the recommendations made to the General Council of the WTO by the Committee on Agriculture in Annex 2 of its Report No G/AG/29 of 31 October 2019 attached to this Decision.
Minor changes to that draft decision may be agreed to by the representatives of the Union in the General Council of the WTO without further decision of the Council.
Article 2 
This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.
Done at Brussels, 21 November 2019.
For the Council
The President
V. SKINNARI
1.1. At the Ninth Session of the Ministerial Conference, Ministers adopted the Decision on ‘Understanding of Tariff Rate Quota Administration Provisions of Agricultural Products, as defined in Article 2 of the Agreement on Agriculture’ (WT/MIN(13)/39) (‘Bali TRQ Decision’). Ministers instructed the Committee to review and monitor the implementation of Members’ obligations established under the Bali TRQ Decision with the objective that the review will promote a continuing process of improvement in the utilization of tariff rate quotas, commencing no later than 2017, taking into account experience gained up to that time. The Review discussions commenced at the October 2017 meeting of the Committee. At the February 2018 meeting, the Committee agreed to the process and timelines to conduct the Review in document G/AG/W/171. As per the agreed procedure, the review has been conducted through open-ended informal meetings of the Committee scheduled back-to-back with the regular meetings of the Committee.

1.2. Members discussed the Review in four informal meetings of the Committee in 2018 on 20 February, 11 June, 25 September and 26 November. A thematic session on tariff quota administration and underfill was held during the November informal meeting involving the participation of industry representatives. The review discussions also benefitted from a number of written contributions by Members. Similarly, in response to requests from Members and as per the agreed process and timelines to conduct the review, the Secretariat prepared a background paper on tariff quota administration and fill rates to facilitate the Review. Annex 1 includes a list of all written documents considered thus far in the review.

1.3. Members have identified the following themes in the review discussions: 1) Effective implementation and follow-up of the substantive obligations arising out of the Bali TRQ Decision; 2) TRQ transparency requirements; 3) Underfill Mechanism. Some elements raised under each of the three themes, including during the thematic discussions in November, are indicated below.


i.. Reallocation of unused-licenses within a TRQ;
ii.. Reallocation processes, including regarding country-specific allocations;
iii.. Sharing of experiences and best practices on improving TRQ fill, including reallocation of TRQs under RTAs.


i.. Timely and complete TRQ notifications;
ii.. Prompt reporting of changes in TRQ administration;
iii.. Consistent reporting of fill-rates by all Members with TRQ commitments;
iv.. Harmonized notifications practices (e.g. for TRQs not opened or scheduled TRQs with no tariff advantage);
v.. Reporting of reasons of underfill;
vi.. Sharing of national experiences and best practices of TRQ administration;
vii.. Special and differential treatment (Burdensomeness of notification requirements);
viii.. Linkage with notification requirements in the area of import licensing procedures;
ix.. Technical assistance by the Secretariat towards improved notification compliance of Members.


i.. Differing obligations of Members (paragraph 4 of Annex A);
ii.. Special and differential treatment;
iii.. Potential less-than-universal applicability in future;
iv.. Linkage between Annex B and paragraph 4 of Annex A;
v.. Exploration of the causes of underfill;
vi.. Targeted examination of TRQ underfill in some specific sectors;
vii.. Practical applicability of the Underfill Mechanism (exploration of reasons including potential complexity, as to why it has not yet been invoked, sharing of experiences, simplification of procedural requirements);
viii.. Maintenance of list of underfilled TRQs by the Secretariat.
 1.4. On the issue of future operation of paragraph 4 of the Underfill Mechanism and the associated S&D provision, Members’ positions were divergent. Some developing Members maintained that S&D provisions in the Bali TRQ Decision should not be diluted; some other Members argued that the S&D treatment for developing countries should not lead to a carve out and that the beneficiary developing countries should rather assume commitments with regard to the management of TRQs taking into account their development status.
 1.5. Several Members considered the scope of this review to be limited to seeking improvement in TRQ administration to distinguish it from the market access negotiations. Some others referred to the possibility of taking up the TRQ-related issues in the market access negotiations.

Pursuant to paragraphs 13-15 of the Bali TRQ Decision (WT/MIN(13)/39), the Committee at its meeting on 31 October 2019 agrees to the following recommendations as included in Annex 2 to this report for consideration by the General Council.

ANNEX 1

List of documents
G/AG/W/16910 October 2017 Monitoring and review of Members’ obligations established under the Bali Decision on TRQ administration.Note by the Secretariat
G/AG/W/1719 February 2018 Proposed process for the Review of the Operation of the Bali Decision on TRQ Administration.Note by the Secretariat
G/AG/W/17518 May 2018andG/AG/W/175/Add.17 May 2019 
— European Union submission to Committee on Agriculture on the Process for the Review of the Operation of the Bali Decision on Tariff Rate Quota Administration.Communications from the European Union
G/AG/W/1796 June 2018 
— Review of the Operation of the Bali Ministerial Decision on ‘Understanding on Tariff Rate Quota Administration provisions of Agricultural Products …’.Submission from the Cairns Group
G/AG/W/18331 July 2018 Tariff quota administration methods and fill rates 2007-2016.Background Paper by the Secretariat
G/AG/W/18619 September 2018 Review of Bali Decision on TRQ administration.Submission from Australia
G/AG/W/19724 May 2019 The Underfill Mechanism of the Bali TRQ Administration DecisionSubmission on behalf of the Cairns Group


ANNEX 2
1. The timeframe specified in Paragraph 14 and footnote 2 of the Bali TRQ Decision for a decision on Paragraph 4 of Annex A shall be extended to the end of 2021. All references to ‘12th Ministerial Conference’ and ‘31 December 2019’ in paragraphs 13-14 and footnote 2 of the Bali TRQ Decision shall be understood to read ‘13th Ministerial Conference’ and ‘31 December 2021’ respectively. In all other respects, the terms of the Bali TRQ Decision remain unchanged. For greater certainty, Members listed in Annex B of the Bali TRQ Decision retain the right to discontinue application of paragraph 4 of Annex A on or after 31 December 2021 if neither a Ministerial Conference nor the General Council has decided to extend paragraph 4 of Annex A by that date.

2. 

a)) The Secretariat will prepare a list of the existing TRQ notification practices of Members including in cases where a scheduled TRQ was not opened.
b)) The Committee will initiate discussions on harmonization of Members’ TRQ notification practices, including for the TRQ fill rates.
c)) The Committee encourages Members to include an explanation in their Table MA:2 notifications in cases where scheduled TRQs are not opened.
d)) The Secretariat will regularly update the information on TRQ administration and fill rates as included in G/AG/W/183 as well the updated information on which Members have notified fill rates and on questions raised in the Committee concerning fill rates.

3. The Committee agrees to undertake regular reviews of the operation of the Bali TRQ Decision every three years after the conclusion of this review. These regular reviews will include, inter alia, an examination of the utilization of the Underfill Mechanism based on submissions by Members.
