Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-xtgtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T01:36:55.545Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Reforming the WTO Legal Order for Agricultural Trade: Issues for European Rural Policy in the Doha Round

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 January 2008

Michael Cardwell  and
Christopher Rodgers
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

European farm policy has undergone radical change in recent years, culminating in the Agenda 2000 reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy agreed in 1999 and then their Mid-Term Review in 2003. In particular, subsidy payments have been substantially ‘decoupled’ from production and switched decisively towards providing income support for farmers under a new ‘single farm payment’ scheme. These reforms have been predicated upon the need to win acceptance for Community farm subsidies in the Doha Round of WTO negotiations. This article examines the new law of the Common Agricultural Policy against the background of the domestic support reduction commitments contained in the 1994 Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture. It questions the extent to which the single farm payment scheme fulfils the requirements for ‘green box’ exemption from such commitments. Options for the re-negotiation of the Agreement on Agriculture are discussed, including measures to improve the justiciability of its terms and to exclude discriminatory and trade-distorting domestic support. The article also considers the implications of the recent WTO Appellate Body Decisions in United States—Subsidies on Upland Cotton and European Communities-Export Subsidies on Sugar. It concludes that the Community will have difficulty gaining acceptance for its reforms among WTO Members. Whatever the legitimacy of its subsidy regime within the framework of the current Agreement on Agriculture, the emergence of a strong negotiating position among developing countries, posited on opposition to the volume of farm support maintained by the Community and United States, may present even greater obstacles to the conclusion of a new Agreement on Agriculture in the Doha Round.

Type
Articles
Information
International & Comparative Law Quarterly , Volume 55 , Issue 4 , October 2006 , pp. 805 - 838
Copyright
Copyright © British Institute of International and Comparative Law 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 It was envisaged that the main effect of the Mid-term Review would be upon the milk quota system (on the basis that a decision would be taken to end milk quotas by 2006). Yet, in the event, the milk quota system was one of the few areas of the Common Agricultural Policy that remained relatively undisturbed (milk quotas surviving until at least 31 Mar 2015): Council Regulation 1788/2003, OJ 2003 L 270/123, Art 1.Google Scholar

2 Council Regulation 1782/2003, OJ 2003 L 270/1Google Scholar (‘2003 Horizontal Regulation’), Art 1.

3 Council Regulation 1698/2005, OJ 2005 L 277/1.Google Scholar This revised legislative framework applies, as a general rule, for the programming period commencing on 1 January 2007. See also Council Decision of 20 February 2006 on Community Strategic Guidelines for Rural Development (Programming Period 2007–2013), OJ 2006 L 55/20.Google Scholar European Rural Policy in the Doha Round

4 These are defined in Annex 2 to the URAA.

5 URAA Art 6.4. For developing countries the de minimis percentage was 10 per cent.

6 ibid Art 6.5.

7 European Commission Agenda 2000: For a Stronger and Wider Union, Bulletin of the European Union, Supplement 5/97 COM(97) 2000, Part I, III.3.Google Scholar

8 European Commission (1998) 1 <http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/dg06/ag2000/agprop/mot_en.htm> (visited on 3 June 1998).+(visited+on+3+June+1998).>Google Scholar

9 Speech/03/326 ‘The New, Reformed Agricultural Policy’ (Luxembourg 26 06 2003).Google Scholar

10 Speech/05/25 Agriculture and Rural Development in the EU25—Looking Forward (Berlin 20 01 2005).Google Scholar

11 (2004) WT/DS267/R;Google Scholar and (2005) WT/DS267/AB/R.Google Scholar

12 See, eg, European Commission The Future for European Agriculture (1998) <http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/dg06/ag2000/agprop/mot_en.htm> (visited on 3 June 1998).+(visited+on+3+June+1998).>Google Scholar

13 European Commission Mid-term Review of the Common Agricultural Policy COM(2002) 394, 2.Google Scholar

14 Speech/02/424 The Future of Farming and the European Agricultural Policy—Facing the Challenges, Seizing the Opportunities (Paris 25 09 2002).Google Scholar

15 See, eg, European Commission The Future for European Agriculture (1998) <http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/dg06/ag2000/agprop/mot_en.htm> (visited on 3 06 1998)+(visited+on+3+06+1998)>Google Scholar; and, generally, eg, Cardwell, M ‘The European Model of Agriculture and World Trade: Reconfiguring Domestic Support’ in Bell, J, Dashwood, A, Spencer, J, and Ward, A (eds) Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies, Volume 5, 2002–2003 (Hart Publishing Oxford 2004) 77–103;Google Scholar and A Greer Agricultural Policy in Europe (MUP Manchester 2005) 113–15.Google Scholar

16 See, eg, Ingersent, KA, Rayner, AJ, and Hine, RC ‘The EC Perspective’ in KA, Ingersent, AJ, Rayner, and RC, Hine (eds) Agriculture in the Uruguay Round (Macmillan Press London 1994) 55–87CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Coleman, WD and Tangermann, S ‘The 1992 CAP Reform, the Uruguay Round and the Commission: Conceptualizing Linked Policy Games’ (1999) 37 Journal of Common Market Studies 385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

17 Speech//99/14 The WTO and Agriculture in East and West (Berlin 23 01 1999).Google Scholar

18 European Commission Bulletin of the European Union, 3–1999, at I-Special Berlin European Council 24.

19 Speech/03/373 CAP Reform: What Relevance for Cancun? (Washington, DC 28 07 2003).Google Scholar

20 European Commission Mid-term Review of the Common Agricultural Policy COM(2002) 394, 5.Google Scholar

21 ibid; and see, generally, eg, Cardwell, MThe European Model of Agriculture (OUP Oxford 2004) passim.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

22 See, eg, ABARE Multifunctionality: a Pretext for Protection? [1999] ABARE Current Issues No 3.Google ScholarSee also, for more equivocal treatments, eg Bohman, M et al. The Use and Abuse of Multifunctionality (Economic Research Service/USDA Washington, DC 1999)Google Scholar; and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Multifunctionality: Towards an Analytical Framework (OECD Paris 2001) passim.Google Scholar

23 ibid 10.

24 European Commission Mid-term Review of the Common Agricultural Policy COM(2002) 394, 2.Google Scholar

25 Speech/99/117 The European Model of Agriculture—Facing the WTO Acid Test (Verona 24 09 1999).Google Scholar

26 IP/00/295 WTO Farm Negotiations: ‘EU Constructive but Firm’, Franz Fischler Says (Brussels 24 03 2000).Google Scholar

27 On the 1992 MacSharry reforms, generally, see, eg, Neville, W and Mordaunt, FA Guide to the Reformed Common Agricultural Policy (Estates Gazette London 1993) passimGoogle Scholar; Swinbank, A ‘The New CAP’ in Ritson, C and Harvey, DR (eds) The Common Agricultural Policy (2nd ednCAB International Wallingford 1997) 95–111Google Scholar; and Ackrill, RThe Common Agricultural Policy (Sheffield Academic Press Sheffield 2000) 92–107.Google Scholar

28 European Commission Agenda 2000: For a Stronger and Wider Union, Bulletin of the European Union, Supplement 5/97 COM(97) 2000, Part One, III.4.Google Scholar

29 COM(91) 100, 8.

30 On the cereals sector, generally, see, eg, Usher, JAEC Agricultural Law (2nd edn OUP Oxford 2001) 80–9.Google Scholar

31 Council Regulation 1766/92, OJ 1992 L 181/21, Art 3(3).Google Scholar

32 Council Regulation 1765/92, OJ 1992 L 181/12, Art 4.Google Scholar

33 European Commission The Agricultural Situation in the European Union: 1998 Report (European Commission Brussels, Luxembourg 1999) 148–9.Google Scholar

34 European Commission Agenda 2000: For a Stronger and Wider Union, Bulletin of the European Union, Supplement 5/97 COM(97)2000, Part One, III.l.Google Scholar

35 European Commission The Agricultural Situation in the European Union: 1998 Report (European Commission Brussels, Luxembourg 1999) 146 and 150.Google Scholar

36 WTO G/AG/NG/W/17, 28 06 2000.Google Scholar For the research referred to in the submission, see OECD A Matrix Approach to Evaluating Policy: Preliminary Findings from PEM Pilot Studies of Crop Policy in the EU, the US, Canada and Mexico COM/AGR/CA/TD/TC(99)117 (OECD Paris 2000).Google Scholar

37 WTO G/AG/NG/W/90, 14 12 2000.Google Scholar

38 See, generally, eg, Galloway, D ‘Agenda 2000—Packaging the Deal’ (1999) 37 Journal of Common Market Studies Annual Review 9CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Ackrill, RThe Common Agricultural Policy (Sheffield Academic Press Sheffield 2000) 115–27Google Scholar; and McMahon, JA ‘The Common Agricultural Policy: From Quantity to Quality?’ (2002) 53 Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly 9.Google Scholar

39 Council Regulation 1766/92, OJ 1992 L 181/21, Art 3(1)Google Scholar, as amended by Council Regulation 1253/1999, OJ 1999 L 160/18.Google Scholar

40 Council Regulation 1251/1999, OJ 1999 L 180/1, Art 4(3).Google Scholar

41 European Commission The Agricultural Situation in the European Union: 1998 Report (European Commission Brussels, Luxembourg 2002) 130.Google Scholar

42 Commissioner Fischler, Speech/01/477 Agricultural Policy for the Future: Changing Concerns, Changing Objectives (Salzburg 19 10 2001).Google Scholar

43 Speech/99/101 The Agenda 2000 Agreement: ‘Der Himmel iiber Berlin’ or ‘Sleepless in Seattle’? (Brussels 29 06 1999).Google Scholar

44 European Commission The Future for European Agriculture (1998) <http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/dg06/ag2000/agprop/mot_en.htm> (visited on 3 June 1998).+(visited+on+3+June+1998).>Google Scholar

45 Council Regulation 1251/1999, OJ 1999 L 180/1, Art 4(3).Google Scholar

46 See, generally, eg, Moody, J and Neville, WMid Term Review: a Practical Guide (Burges Salmon Bristol 2004) 32–165.Google Scholar

47 OECD Decoupling: a Conceptual Overview (OECD Paris 2001) 8.Google ScholarSee also, eg, Grossman, MR ‘Multifunctionality and Non-trade Concerns’ in Cardwell, M, Grossman, MR, and Rodgers, CP (eds) Agriculture and International Trade: Law, Policy and the WTO (CAB International Wallingford 2003) 85–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

48 OECD Decoupling: a Conceptual Overview (OECD Paris 2001) 5.Google Scholar

49 ibid 9. Express reliance was placed on definitions of decoupling developed in Cahill, SA ‘Calculating the Rate of Decoupling for Crops under CAP/Oilseeds Reform’ (1997) 48 Journal of Agricultural Economics 349.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

50 For the support schemes comprised within the SFP, see the 2003 Horizontal Regulation, OJ 2003 L 270/1, Annex VI.Google Scholar

51 Under the general rule, farmers receive the SFP on an individual basis by reference to their historic entitlement over a 2000–2002 reference period: ibid Arts 37–8. However, by way of derogation, Member States may allocate flat-rate entitlements per hectare to farmers within a region: ibid Arts 58–63. In the case of England, the decision has been taken to phase in payments on a regional basis over the period 2005–2012: Common Agricultural Policy Single Payment and Support Schemes Regulations 2005, SI 2005 No 219, Sch 1 (the regional element rising from 10 per cent in 2005 to 100 per cent in 2012 and the historic element falling correspondingly).

52 2003 Horizontal Regulation, OJ 2003 L 270/1, Art 62.Google Scholar The dairy premium and additional payments were introduced as from 2004 to compensate dairy farmers for the reduction of market support in the milk sector: ibid Arts 95–7. Their incorporation into the SFP arguably prejudices dairy farmers, in that compensation directed to one sector of the agricultural industry (the milk sector) becomes spread among all farmers entitled to the SFP.

53 For the implementing legislation, see the 2003 Horizontal Regulation, OJ L 270/1Google Scholar, Annex VI, as amended by Council Regulation 319/2006, OJ L 58/32.Google Scholar

54 2003 Horizontal Regulation, OJ 2003 L 270/1Google Scholar, Arts 72–8.

55 ibid Art 71.

56 See, eg, Agra Europe Weekly, No 2142. No 2171, 26 Aug 2005, EP/5 (in all cases, however, implementation was delayed only until 1 01 2006).Google Scholar

57 2003 Horizontal Regulation, OJ 2003 L 270/1, Arts 66–7.Google Scholar

58 Commission Regulation 118/2005, OJ 2005 L 24/15Google Scholar, Annex II For the Scottish Beef Calf Scheme, see the Common Agricultural Policy Single Farm Payment and Support Schemes (Scotland) Regulations 2005, SI 2005 No 143, Regs 19–25.

59 See, eg, European Commission EU Agriculture ami the WTO: Doha Development Agenda, Cancun—September 2003: INFO (European Commission Brussels 2003) 4.Google Scholar

60 Commissioner Fischer Boel, Speech/05/773 WTO—Hong Kong Ministerial: Time to Get Serious (Brussels 8 12 2005).Google Scholar

61 See, eg, MEMO/05/400 Doha Round: EU Offer in Agricultural Negotiations (Brussels 28 10 2005)Google Scholar; and see also Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, WTO, WT/MIN(05)/DEC, 22 12 2005, Annex A, para 8.Google Scholar

62 (2004) WT/DS267/R;Google Scholar and (2005) WT/DS267/AB/R. This is considered further below.Google Scholar

63 2003 Horizontal Regulation, OJ 2003 L 270/1Google Scholar, Art 44(1): ‘[a]ny payment entitlement accompanied by an eligible hectare shall give right to the payment of the amount fixed by the payment entitlement.’

64 ibid Art 51, as amended by Council Regulation 864/2004, OJ 2004 L 161/48.Google Scholar More precisely, in the case of fruit and vegetables, farmers may not unlock payment entitlements with (i) land used for the production of products referred to in Art 1 (2) of Council Regulation 2200/96, OJ 1996 L 297/1 (on the common organization of the market in fruits and vegetables); or (ii) land used for the production of products referred to in Art 1 (2) of Council Regulation 2201/96, 0 J1996 L 297/29 (on the common organisation of the market in processed fruit and vegetable products).

65 2003 Horizontal Regulation, OJ 2003 L 270/1, Art 60Google Scholar, as amended by Council Regulation 864/2004, OJ 2004 L 161/48.Google Scholar For allocation on a regional basis, see n 51.

66 Council Regulation 1251/1999, OJ 1999 L 160/1 Art 6Google Scholar

67 European Commission COM(2002) 394, 21.

68 2003 Horizontal Regulation, OJ 2003 L 270/1, Art 63(2).Google Scholar

69 The calculations are labyrinthine. The set-aside rate is less than the original 10 per cent applied from 2000 because the new scheme covers a larger area of each holding: instead of just applying to arable land the set-aside scheme now applies to land used for all purposes other than permanent pasture and permanent crops (it could include, for instance, fodder crops and temporary grass). The percentage of the total eligible area of a holding to which the set-aside rate applies is, therefore, greater. The intention is to arrive at a similar area of arable land set aside in any one year, defined on a regional basis, by scaling down the total set-aside requirement proportionately. For the supplementing legislation in England, see the Common Agricultural Policy Single Payment Scheme (set-aside) (England) Regulations 2004, SI 2004 No 3385, as amended.

70 2003 Horizontal Regulation, OJ 2003 L 270/1Google Scholar, Art 56(1).

71 ibid Art 4 and Annex HI. These statutory management requirements are to be introduced in three tranches over the period 1 Jan 2005 to 1 Jan 2007.

72 ibid Art 5 and Annex IV. For the implementing legislation in England, see, as amended the Common Agricultural Policy Single Payment and Support Schemes (Cross Compliance) (England) Regulations 2004, SI 2004 No 3196.

73 Speech/04/08 Trade, Reform and the Future of Europe (Krems, Austria 9 06 2004).Google Scholar

74 House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee The Mid-term Review of the Common Agricultural Policy, Third Report of Session 2002–03, HC 151, para 76. See also Moody and Neville, WMid Term Review: a Practical Guide (Burges Salmon Bristol 2004) 32.Google Scholar

75 OJ 1999 L 160/80Google Scholar, Art 23(2), as amended by Council Regulation 1783/2003, OJ 2003 L 270/70Google Scholar (which introduced payments for animal welfare commitments). As a general rule, the Rural Development Regulation will be replaced for the programming period commencing on 1 January 2007 by Council Regulation 1698/2005, OJ 2005 L 277/1.Google Scholar

76 See, eg, WTO Green Box Measures: Background Paper by the Secretariat G/AG/NG/S/2, 19 04 2000, Annex 2, Table S.Google Scholar

77 See, eg, House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee The Mid-term Review of the Common Agricultural Policy, Third Report of Session 2002–03, HC 151, para 52.

78 OJ 2003 L 270/1, Arts 6–7.Google Scholar

79 OJ 1999 L 160/80Google Scholar, Arts 21a–d and 24a–d, as amended by Council Regulation 1783/2003, OJ 2003 L 270/70.Google Scholar

80 Speech/99/71 WTO Press Conference Speaking Note (Brussels 23 11 1999).Google Scholar

81 WTO Note on Non-trade Concerns G/AG/NG/W/36, 22 09 2000.Google Scholar

82 WTO Negotiating Proposal by Japan on WTO Agricultural Negotiations G/AG/NG/W/91, 21 12 2000.Google Scholar

83 WTO WTO Agriculture Negotiations: Proposal by Norway G/AG/NG/W/101, 16 01 2001.Google Scholar

84 WTO EC Comprehensive Negotiating Proposal G/AG/NG/W/90, 14 12 2000.Google ScholarSee also, eg, Aggarwal, R ‘Dynamics of Agriculture Negotiations in the World Trade Organization’ (2005) 39 Journal of World Trade 741.Google Scholar

85 WTO Agriculture: Negotiations 2000 March 2001: Work Programme for the Second Phase, 27 March 2001 <http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/agneg7_e.htm> (visited on 2 04 2001).+(visited+on+2+04+2001).>Google Scholar

86 A good illustration is the submission by the Community on food safety issues: WTO Food Safety: Note by the European Communities D(2001)(DIVERS/500186 ur) 20 07 2001.Google Scholar

87 WTO Ministerial Declaration WT/MIN(01)/DEC/W/1, 14 11 2001, para 13.Google Scholar

88 IP/01/1584 ‘New WTO Round Slap in the Face for Isolationism’, Says EU Farm Commissioner Fischler (Doha 14 11 2001).Google Scholar

89 WTO Doha Work Programme: Decision Adopted by the General Council on 1 August 2004 WT/L/579, 2 08 2004, Annex A, para 2.Google Scholar

90 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Agricultural Policy: Taking Stock for the New Century (USDA Washington, DC 2001).Google Scholar

91 WTO Proposal for Comprehensive Long-term Agricultural Trade Reform: Submission from the United States G/AG/NG/W/15, 23 06 2000.Google Scholar

92 See, eg, Bohman, M et al. The Use and Abuse of Multifunctionality (Economic Research Service/USDA Washington, DC 1999).Google Scholar

93 USDA US Proposal for Global Agricultural Trade Reform <http://www.fas.usda.gov/itp/wto/actual.htm> (visited on 3 10 2002).+(visited+on+3+10+2002).>Google Scholar

94 See Mid-term Review of the Common Agricultural Policy COM(394)2002, 20, where a key objective of the introduction of reforms was expressly stated to be ‘to conserve the WTO-Green Box compatibility of the payments’.Google Scholar

95 European Commission EU Agriculture and the WTO: Doha Development Agenda, Cancun—September 2003: INFO (European Commission Brussels 2003) 5.Google Scholar

96 Speech/05/280 Agricultural Reform in a Global Context (Oslo 13 05 2005).Google Scholar

97 (2004) WT/DS267/R, para 7.412Google Scholar; and (2005) WT/DS267/AB/R, para 334.Google Scholar

98 See, eg, Swinbank, A and Tranter, R ‘Decoupling EU Farm Support: Does the New Single Payment Scheme Fit within the Green Box?’ (2005) 6 Estey Centre Journal of International Law and Trade Policy 47Google Scholar; and Swinbank, A ‘Developments in the Doha Round and WTO Dispute Settlement: Some Implications for EU Agricultural Policy’ (2005) 32 European Review of Agricultural Economics 551.Google Scholar

99 (2004) WT/DS267/R, paras 7.389 and 7.392.Google Scholar

100 ibid paras 7.398–7.399 and 7.405.

101 (2005) WT/DS267/AB/R, paras 343–344.Google Scholar

102 As seen, the general rule does not apply where a Member State opts to implement the SFP scheme on a regional basis.

103 Annex 2, para 6(e).

104 (2004) WT/DS267/R, para 7.368.Google Scholar

105 ibid para 372.

106 (2005) WT/DS267/AB/R, para 327.Google Scholar

107 2003 Horizontal RegulationGoogle Scholar, OJ 2003 L 270/1, Art 5.Google Scholar

108 ibid Annex IV.

109 Swinbank, A and Tranter, R ‘LDecoupling EU Farm Support: Does the New Single Payment Scheme Fit within the Green Box?’ (2005) 6 Estey Centre Journal of International Law and Trade Policy 47Google Scholar; and Swinbank, A ‘Developments in the Doha Round and WTO Dispute Settlement: Some Implications for EU Agricultural Policy’ (2005) 32 European Review of Agricultural Economics 551.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

110 (2005) WT/DS267/AB/R, para 329.Google Scholar

111 2003 Horizontal RegulationGoogle Scholar, OJ 2003 L 270/1Google Scholar, Art 51, as amended by Council Regulation 864/2004, OJ 2004 L 161/48.Google Scholar

112 2003 Horizontal Regulation, OJ 2003 L 270/1, Art 60Google Scholar, as amended by Council Regulation 864/2004, OJ 2004 L 161/48.Google Scholar

113 Speech/05/345 CAP Reform ami the European Model of Agriculture' (Slovenia 10 06 2005) (emphasis added).Google Scholar

114 OJ 1988 L 106/28.Google Scholar

115 URAA, Annex 2, para 12.

116 Council Regulation 1257/1999, OJ 1999 L 160/80, Art 13(a).Google Scholar

117 See, generally, eg, Buller, H ‘The Agri-environmental Measures (2078/92)’ in Brouwer, F and Lowe, P (eds) CAP Regimes and the European Countryside (CABI Publishing Wallingford 2000) 199–219.Google Scholar

118 Environmental Stewardship (England) Regulations 2005, SI 2005 No 621, as amended.

119 Basic management prescriptions for ‘“entry level” stewardship’ agreements are set out in Sch 2, Part 2. These are directed to the maintenance of existing natural habitats, the prevention of water pollution and the prevention of overgrazing by livestock. More advanced prescriptions for inclusion in ‘“higher level” stewardship’ agreements are set out in Sch 2, Parts 2–5, such as those directed to the recreation of selected natural habitat types.

120 See, eg, H Duller (n 117).

121 Implemented under the Agriculture Act 1986. The relevant designation orders, made under Section 18, are: Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Stage I) Designation Order 2000, SI 2000 No 3049; Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Stage n) Designation Order 2000, SI 2000 No 3050; Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Stage m) Designation Order 2000, SI 2000 No 3051; and Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Stage IV) Designation Order 2000, SI 2000 No 3052, all as amended.

122 WTO G/AG/NG/W/90, 14 12 2000.Google Scholar

123 WTO Note on Non-trade Concerns G/AG/NG/W/36, 22 09 2000.Google Scholar

124 OJ 1999 L160/80, Art 24.Google Scholar

125 Commission Regulation 445/2002, OJ 2002 L 74/1, Art 19.Google Scholar

126 Council Regulation 1698/2005, OJ 2005 L 277/1, Art 39(4).Google Scholar

127 OJ 1999 L 160/80Google Scholar, Art.23(2), as amended by Council Regulation 1783/2003, OJ 2003 L 270/70.Google Scholar

128 Respectively, WTO, TN/AG/W/1, 17 02 2003Google Scholar; and WTO, TN/AG/W/1/Rev 1, 18 03 2003.Google Scholar

129 Respectively, WTO, WT/MIN(01)/DEC/W/1, 14 11 2003Google Scholar; and WTO, WT/L/579, 2 08 2004, Annex A.Google Scholar

130 WTO, WT/L/579, 2 08 2004, Annex A, para 16.Google Scholar

131 WTO, WT/MIN(05)/DEC, 22 12 2005, para 5.Google Scholar

132 See, generally, eg, O'Connor, B ‘A Note on the Need for more Clarity in the WTO Agreement on Agriculture’ (2003) 37 Journal of World Trade 839.Google Scholar

133 See WTO Agriculture Negotiations: Status Report II: Looking Forward to the Hong Kong Ministerial-Assessment by the Chairman WT/TN/AG/19, 1 08 2005, paras 9 and 10 (identifying the key issues to be resolved if a political consensus on ‘green box’ reform is to be reached).Google Scholar

134 See, eg, Hennessy, D ‘The Production Effects of Agricultural Income Support Policies Under Uncertainty’ (1998) 80 American Journal of Agricultural Economics 46CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Rude, J ‘Under the Green Box’ (2001) 35 Journal of World Trade 1015CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Roberts, I, Podbury, T and Hinchy, M ‘Reforming Domestic Agricultural Support Policies through the World Trade Organisation’ AB ARE Research Report 01.2 (ABARE Canberra 2001)Google Scholar; and Burfisher, ME and Hopkins, J (eds) ‘Decoupled Payments: Household Income Transfers in Contemporary US Agriculture’ Agricultural Economics Report No 822 (Economic Research Service/USDA, USDA Washington, DC 2003).Google Scholar

135 See, eg, de Gorter, H ‘Market Access, Export Subsidies, and Domestic Support: Developing New Rules’ in MD, Ingco and LA, Winters (eds) Agriculture and the New Trade Agenda: Creating a Global Trading Environment for Development (CUP Cambridge 2004) 151–175CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Burfisher, ME and Hopkins, J (eds) ‘Decoupled Payments: Household Income Transfers in Contemporary US Agriculture’ Agricultural Economics Report No 822 (Economic Research Service/UDSDA Washington, DC 2003) 18.Google Scholar

136 (2005) WT/DS265/AB/R;Google Scholar(2005) WT/DS266/AB/R;Google Scholar and (2005) WT/DS283/AB/R.Google Scholar

137 For the relevant Community legislation, see Council Regulation 1260/2001, OJ 2001 L 178/1.Google Scholar

138 (2005) WT/DS265/AB/R;Google Scholar(2005) WT/DS266/AB/R;Google Scholar and (2005) WT/DS283/AB/R, para 267.Google Scholar

139 ibid paras 227–90.

140 ibid para 239. See Canada—Dairy (Article 21.5—New Zealand and US) (2001)Google ScholarWT/DS103/AB/RW; (2001) WT/DS113/AB/RW, para 115Google Scholar, for the formulation of the rules concerning the need for a ‘tighter nexus’ between payments and governmental action in this context.

141 (2005) WT/DS265/AB/R; WT/DS266/AB/R; and WT/DS283/AB/R, para 239.Google Scholar

142 ibid paras 251ff; and especially para 264: ‘[t]he “payment” in this case is not merely a “purely notional” one [as argued in the submission of the European Communities] but, rather, reflects a very concrete transfer of economic resources to C sugar production’ (emphasis added by Appellate Body).

143 ibid para 267.

144 ibid para 265: ‘[t]he European Communities’ approach is, in our view, too formalistic.'

145 ibid para 281.

146 ibid para 280.

147 In the case of income tax, United Kingdom farmers have long been able to ‘average’: see now Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) 10 2005, ss 221–5.Google Scholar

148 See, eg, Rude, J ‘Under the Green Box’ (2001) 35 Journal of World Trade 1015.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

149 WTO, WT/L/579, 2 08 2004, Annex A, para 16. See also para 48.Google Scholar

150 OECD, Communiqué of the Meeting of the Committee for Agriculture at Ministerial Level, 5–6 Mar 1998 <http://www.oecd.org/agr/ministerial/commune.htm> (visited on 6 03 2001).+(visited+on+6+03+2001).>Google Scholar

151 OECD Multifimctlonallty: A Framework for Policy Analysis AGR/CA(98)9 (OECD Paris 1998)Google Scholar; and see, subsequently, OECD Multifimctlonallty: Towards an Analytical Framework (OECD Paris 2001).Google Scholar

152 OECD Market Effects of Crop Support Measures (OECD Paris 2001).Google Scholar

153 European Commission Indicators for the Integration of Environmental Concerns Into the Common Agricultural Policy COM(2000)20.Google Scholar

154 See Rude, J ‘Under the Green Box’ (2001) 35 Journal of World Trade 1015.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

155 Agra-Europe Weekly, No 2071, 12 Sept 2003, EP/l-EP/2.

156 See, eg, Commissioner Fischler, Speech/04/88 Restarting the Doha Round (Washington, DC 19 02 2004).Google Scholar

157 See, eg, B O'Connor ‘A Note on the Need for more Clarity in the WTO Agreement on Agriculture’ (2003) 37 Journal of World Trade 839.Google Scholar

158 Substantial reform to bring the Community sugar regime into conformity with WTO disciplines was introduced by Council Regulation 318/2006, OJ 2006 L 58/1.Google Scholar For incorporation of payments under the umbrella of the SFP, see the 2003 Horizontal Regulation, OJ 2003 L 270/1Google Scholar, as amended by Council Regulation 319/2006, OJ 2006 L 58/32.Google Scholar

159 WTO, WT/L/579, 2 08 2004, Annex A, paras 14 and 15.Google Scholar

160 MEMO/05/357, Statement of Conditional EU Negotiating Proposals—with Explanatory Annotations (Brussels 10 10 2005)Google Scholar; and the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration noted a proposal to reduce this to 2.5 per cent: WT/MIN(05)/DEC, 22 12 2005, Annex A, para 9.Google Scholar

161 WTO, WT/L/579, 2 08 2004, Annex A, paras 16 and 48.Google Scholar

162 For an earjy exampie of radical solutions, see WTO Agreement on Agriculture: Green Box/Annex 2 Subsidies. Proposal by Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Pakistan, Haiti, Nicaragua, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and El Salvador G/AG/NG/W14, 23 06 2000.Google Scholar

163 For 2005, the budget for the SFP was originally estimated at €28, 025.6 million: European Commission, Long-term Policy Perspective for Sustainable Agriculture COM(2003)23, Annex A-2 (although this would be reduced by delayed implementation ad partial decoupling). However, as indicated, in January 2005 it was claimed that 90 per cent of direct payments were decoupled: Commissioner Fischer Boel, Speech/05/773 WTO—Hong Kong Ministerial: Time to Get Serious (Brussels 8 12 2005).Google Scholar On ‘box shifting’ generally, see, eg, Diakosawas, D ‘The Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture in Practice: How Open are OECD Markets?’ in MD, Ingco and LA, Winters (eds) Agriculture and the New Trade Agenda: Creating a Global Trading Environment for Development (CUP Cambridge 2004) 37–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

164 The Doha Round negotiations are curently suspended and domestic support for farmers was one of the rocks upon which they foundered: WTO Talks Suspended. ‘Today There are only Lorera’<http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news06_/mod06_summary_24July_e.htm> (visited on 25 07 2006).+(visited+on+25+07+2006).>Google Scholar