Agreement on Agriculture

The WTO Agriculture Agreement provides a framework for the long-term reform of agricultural trade and domestic policies, with the aim of leading to fairer competition and a less distorted sector.

The Agreement covers:

• Market access — the use of trade restrictions, such as tariffs on imports
• Domestic support — the use of subsidies and other support programmes that directly stimulate production and distort trade
• Export competition — the use of export subsidies and other government support programmes that subsidize exports.

Under the Agreement, WTO members agree to “schedules” or lists of commitments that set limits on the tariffs they can apply to individual products and on levels of domestic support and export subsidies.