Multifunctional agriculture and WTO trade negotiations
Historical archive
Published under: Stoltenberg's 1st Government
Publisher: Ministry of Agriculture
Guidelines/brochures | Date: 10/01/2001
Multifunctional agriculture and WTO trade negotiations
Agriculture may be defined as multifunctional when it has one or several roles or functions in addition to its primary role of producing food and fibre. These additional functions might include agriculture’s contribution to long-term food security, the viability of rural areas, cultural heritage, land conservation, the maintenance of agricultural landscapes and agri-biological diversity. These functions are referred to as non-trade concerns (NTCs) in the WTO Agreement on Agriculture.
The multifunctionality of agriculture has implications for agricultural policy design and the multilateral agricultural trading system. According to Article 20 of the Agreement on Agriculture, NTCs are to be taken into account in the continuation of the multilateral agricultural reform process. Most of these different functions or NTCs are unique to agriculture and have public goods characteristics that may justify government intervention. Moreover, most of these public goods cannot be disassociated from the agricultural production activity itself, as they are provided jointly with, and therefore depend on, ongoing agricultural production. Further, agricultural production is biological and site-specific. All these special and multifunctional characteristics of the agricultural sector need to be recognised and call for continued special treatment of the agricultural sector within the multilateral trading system.
| As continued and sustained safeguarding of NTCs requires on-going agricultural production, and as policy objectives and agricultural production conditions vary considerably among Members, the continuation of the WTO reform process cannot be based on a one-size-fits-all approach. Due consideration must be given to the different situations in Member | |
countries, including in developing countries and economies in transition, and the changing needs that characterise agricultural development. In particular, proper attention must be paid to the less favourable production conditions and narrow product range that certain countries, for climatic and other reasons, are facing | ||
In order to achieve the objective to establish a fair and market-oriented agricultural trading system as re-ferred to in Article 20, there is a need to acknowledge, inter alia , the right of every country, according to mutually agreed rules, to secure the coexistence of various types of agriculture.
Our views on the ongoing WTO agriculture negotiations are further elaborated in our negotiating proposals.
This site provides information about multifunctional agriculture and its implications for the WTO agricultural reform process. We are most grateful for any comments you may have on the issues presented.
5. apr. 2005