The Standstill in Subsidies Update

The report finds that subsidy reform in the Doha Round has largely stalled, with the exception of fisheries, where members are debating 'top-down' versus 'bottom-up' frameworks. In agriculture, negotiations are hampered by disagreements over reduction formulas for domestic support and the nature of Green Box reforms. Services and SCM negotiations have seen minimal progress due to technical complexities, a lack of shared definitions, and the ongoing Boeing-Airbus dispute.

• Overall progress on subsidy reform in the Doha Round has been slow, with services and the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM) receiving relatively little attention compared to agriculture and fisheries.
• In agriculture, members are divided over the Aggregate Measure of Support (AMS) reduction formula, debating between an 'absolute' formula based on total support levels and a 'relative' formula based on production value.
• The G-20 and Cairns Group are pushing for more substantive reforms to the Green Box, arguing that some subsidies, particularly decoupled programs in the US and EU, remain trade-distorting.
• Fisheries negotiations are split between a 'top-down' approach (a general prohibition with exceptions) and a 'bottom-up' approach (allowing subsidies that do not lead to over-capacity and over-fishing).
• Negotiations on services subsidies are stalled by a 'chicken and egg' problem where the lack of a formal definition prevents information exchange, and the lack of information prevents the creation of a definition.
• The Boeing-Airbus dispute is identified as a major cause of the impasse in the Rules Group, as neither the US nor the EU wish to change SCM rules while in a trade dispute.
• The lapse of Article 8 of the SCM in 1999 removed the 'non-actionable' status of subsidies for research and development, disadvantaged regions, and environmental upgrades, making them subject to countervailing measures.
• The African Group has called for an end to all trade-distorting cotton subsidies by September 2005 and an end to cotton export subsidies by July 2005, though these targets were not met.

APA

Wall, M., & Vis-Dunbar, D. (2005). The Standstill in Subsidies Update. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/trade_standstill.pdf

Chicago

Wall, Matthew, and Damon Vis-Dunbar. The Standstill in Subsidies Update. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2005. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/trade_standstill.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Wall |first1=Matthew |last2=Vis-Dunbar |first2=Damon |title=The Standstill in Subsidies Update |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=November 2005 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/trade_standstill.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wall2005standstill, author = {Wall, Matthew and Vis-Dunbar, Damon}, title = {{The Standstill in Subsidies Update}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2005}, month = nov, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/trade_standstill.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }