On 23 September 2026, World Trade Organization (WTO) members expressed their views on the current state of agriculture negotiations and how best to move them forward, following the inconclusive outcome of talks in this area at the WTO’s 14th Ministerial Conference in Yaoundé, Cameroon earlier this year.
Negotiations on agriculture began in 2000, under Article 20 of the Agreement on Agriculture, but have achieved only limited progress since then.
At the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session (CoA-SS) meeting, the chair (Pakistan) asked members to share their views on how to advance the negotiations. WTO Secretariat staff also presented on the history of negotiations on agricultural domestic support as part of a series on how talks on various negotiating topics have evolved.
Agriculture remains “central”
Many members reaffirmed that agriculture remains central to the WTO negotiating agenda and underscored the importance of the CoA-SS as the central forum for the agriculture negotiations. However, some members underscored the implications of the broader discussions on WTO reform for agriculture. In contrast, one member viewed the two processes as complementary.
At the meeting, many members expressed their desire to make progress in the negotiations and offered specific suggestions to that end. However, some said previous efforts to break the logjam on agriculture had proven ineffective so far and called for reflection on the underlying reasons for the impasse.
Suggestions for resuming negotiations included technical exchanges, thematic sessions, evidence-based discussions and regular, structured engagement among members to rebuild the conditions necessary for meaningful negotiations. Some also suggested that the Secretariat facilitate technical exchanges by compiling all existing proposals, topic by topic, to enable more targeted and structured discussion.
Many members from various groups underscored that food security should remain the primary goal of the negotiations. Some members emphasised that the negotiations should fully account for the profound changes over the past 30 years, as well as contemporary challenges facing the agricultural trading system. Some members also emphasised the need to prioritise topics covered by past ministerial decisions. In contrast, others underscored the need to ensure balanced and comprehensive negotiations across the board.
Members highlighted the importance of preserving and sharing institutional memory of the negotiations. They welcomed the presentations already provided by the WTO Secretariat on the history of the negotiations. They called for similar presentations on other negotiating topics to help inform and advance future discussions. Some further proposed undertaking a review of recent developments in agricultural markets - including trends in production, trade, export and overall levels of protection - to better understand contemporary challenges facing members.
A long history of talks on agricultural domestic support
In response to earlier member requests, the Secretariat presented a concise overview of the history of domestic support negotiations.
The history stretched back to the first rounds of agricultural rules developed under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), beginning in 1947. The overview covered the disciplines and commitments in the Agreement on Agriculture, which negotiators agreed to during the Uruguay Round.
The Secretariat presentation summarised members’ negotiating submissions, including technical and discussion papers, as well as ministerial statements and drafts put forward in recent years.
Members thanked the Secretariat for the presentation and the valuable context it provided.
The meeting was followed by dedicated sessions looking at two specific outstanding negotiating topics. One session examined how WTO farm subsidy rules address food purchased in developing economies at administered prices for public stocks. The other session considered the proposed “special safeguard mechanism” which would allow developing economies to raise tariffs temporarily in the event of a sudden surge in import volumes or a fall in prices.
WTO members continued to express divergent views on how to move forward in the negotiations in these two areas.
Next steps
The chair concluded the session by saying he would continue to engage with members in informal sessions to seek convergence. The chair stated that future CoA-SS sessions would include thematic presentations on export competition (an area of the talks covering export subsidies and measures considered to be analogous), export restrictions on foodstuffs, the procurement of food for public stocks, the proposed “special safeguard mechanism” and cotton.
The next meetings of the negotiating body on agriculture are planned for 27 October 2026 and 23 November 2026.
The documentation is accessible at:
https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/minist_e/mc14_e/briefing_notes_e/agriculture_e.htm