What National Farm Policy Trends Could Mean for Efforts to Update WTO Rules on Domestic Support

The report argues that World Trade Organization (WTO) rules on agricultural domestic support require urgent updates to align with Agenda 2030, specifically Sustainable Development Goal 2. It analyzes support trends across twelve WTO members and proposes simplifying rules by introducing new, gradually reducing limits on trade-distorting support based on current agricultural output rather than historical levels. Key recommendations include providing special and differential treatment for developing countries, limiting support concentration on single commodities, and exempting certain public stockholding programs from support limits if administered prices remain below international market prices. The report also emphasizes the need for increased transparency in government notifications to improve global food system stability.

• WTO rules on agricultural domestic support require urgent updates to promote equitable, sustainable, and efficient markets and to support the achievement of Agenda 2030, particularly Sustainable Development Goal 2 regarding food security and sustainable agriculture.
• The report proposes replacing fixed historical support levels with new overall limits on domestic support that harm foreign producers, which should be tied to an objective measurement of support as a share of agricultural output and gradually reduced over time to harmonize support levels.
• To ensure fairness, the report recommends that developing countries receive special and differential treatment, which could include higher initial caps on support or longer phase-in periods.
• The report suggests specific constraints on support, including limits on the amount of support focused on any single commodity and the exclusion of public stockholding programs from support limits if the government's administered price is lower than the agreed international market price.
• The authors advocate for the simplification of domestic support rules—specifically allowing a minimal level of trade-distorting support based on production value—and call for significantly stronger transparency requirements for government notifications.

APA

Laborde,, J. H. M. W. G. (2020). What National Farm Policy Trends Could Mean for Efforts to Update WTO Rules on Domestic Support. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/what-national-farm-policy-trends-could-mean-efforts-update-wto-rules-domestic

Chicago

Laborde,, Jonathan Hepburn,Sophia Murphy,Joseph W. Glauber,David. What National Farm Policy Trends Could Mean for Efforts to Update WTO Rules on Domestic Support. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2020. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/what-national-farm-policy-trends-could-mean-efforts-update-wto-rules-domestic.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Laborde, |first1=Jonathan Hepburn,Sophia Murphy,Joseph W. Glauber,David |title=What National Farm Policy Trends Could Mean for Efforts to Update WTO Rules on Domestic Support |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=24 April 2020 |url=https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/what-national-farm-policy-trends-could-mean-efforts-update-wto-rules-domestic |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{laborde2020what, author = {Laborde,, Jonathan Hepburn,Sophia Murphy,Joseph W. Glauber,David}, title = {{What National Farm Policy Trends Could Mean for Efforts to Update WTO Rules on Domestic Support}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2020}, month = apr, url = {https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/what-national-farm-policy-trends-could-mean-efforts-update-wto-rules-domestic}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }