What Modalities for an Agricultural Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM) at the WTO?
Drawing Upon Developing Country Experiences of the Agricultural Special Safeguard (SSG)
An ICTSD Informal Roundtable

25 February 2005, Geneva, Switzerland

Description

On 1st August 2004 WTO Members adopted the General Council Decision on the Doha Work Programme. Annex A of this Decision sets out a framework constituting the basis for the crafting of full modalities during the next phase of negotiations. Paragraph 42 of this decision states that "A Special Safeguard Mechanism (SMM) will be established for use by developing countries", with the details set to be developed in the next phase of the negotiations.

In the ongoing WTO negotiations, Members are addressing the modalities for the SSM, including complex and politically contentious issues such as access, scope and coverage, the type of triggers used and the time-period of application. In order to be effective and reach a meaningful outcome for developing countries, negotiations will need to be informed by existing studies and analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of existing instruments to tackle these, particularly the agricultural safeguard mechanism. This will need to be supplemented by an evaluation of possible options to craft modalities on an SSM that will represent an improvement over presently available mechanisms. The Roundtable will comprise two presentations by experts on these issues, followed by an open discussion among experts and trade-negotiators initiated by a number of key discussants.