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Glossary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z They are taxes assessed on the basis of the value of the imported merchandise and not on the basis of volume, weight, kind, or quantity. It is generally used because it is transparent, nondiscriminatory, and consistent with price changes.
» Adaptation to climate changes This refers to all activities that seek to adapt society to the new environmental conditions resulting from climate change. Examples of these activities are the contingency plans for the extreme climatic events (hurricanes, droughts, storms) and the development of new plant varieties. The adaptation actions have an objective of reducing the damage and maximize the opportunities caused by climate change.
» AFOLU The term AFOLU is used to designate the activities relating to Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use.
» Aggregate Measurement of Support (AMS) Aggregate Measurement of Support (AMS) is the annual level of support, expressed in monetary terms, provided for an agricultural product in favor of the producers of the basic agricultural product or non-product-specific support provided in favor of agricultural producers in general, other than support provided under programs that qualify as exempt from reduction under Annex 2 to this Agreement on Agriculture.
The Agreement on Agriculture was negotiated in the 1986-94 Uruguay Round and is a significant first step towards fairer competition and a less distorted sector. It includes specific commitments by WTO member governments to improve market access and reduce trade-distorting subsidies in agriculture. These commitments are being implemented over a six year period (10 years for developing countries) that began in 1995. The agreement also considers non-trade concerns, including food security, animal and plant health, and environmental protection. Participants have agreed to initiate negotiations for continuing the reform process one year before the end of the implementation period, i.e. by the end of 1999. These talks have now been incorporated into the broader negotiating agenda set at the 2001 Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar.
» Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) The SPS Agreement concerns the application of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures - in other words food safety and animal and plant health regulations. The agreement recognizes that governments have the right to take SPS measures but that they should be applied only to the extent necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health and should not arbitrarily or unjustifiably discriminate between WTO members where identical or similar conditions prevail. Countries are encouraged to base their measures on international standards, guidelines and recommendations where they exist. However, they may maintain or introduce measures which result in higher standards if there is scientific justification or as a consequence of consistent risk decisions based on an appropriate risk assessment. The agreement includes provisions on control, inspection, and approval procedures.
» Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM) The Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM) is intended to build on the Agreement on Interpretation and Application of Articles VI, XVI and XXIII which was negotiated in the Tokyo Round. It contains a definition of subsidy, and establishes three categories of subsidies (prohibited, actionable, and non-actionable subsidies). The agreement recognizes that subsidies may play an important role in economic development programs of developing countries, and confers special and differential treatment to least-developed countries, other developing countries, and countries in the process of transformation from a centrally-planned into a market economy.The agreement also concerns the use of countervailing measures on subsidized imported goods. It sets out disciplines on the initiation of countervailing cases, investigations by national authorities, and rules of evidence to ensure that all interested parties can present information and argument. Certain disciplines on the calculation of the amount of a subsidy are outlined as is the basis for the determination of injury to the domestic industry.
» Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) The TBT Agreement seeks to ensure that technical negotiations and standards, as well as testing and certification procedures, do not create unnecessary obstacles to trade. Nonetheless, it recognizes that countries have the right to establish protection, at levels they consider appropriate, and should not be prevented from taking measures necessary to ensure those levels of protection are met. The agreement encourages countries to use international standards where these are appropriate, but it does not require them to change their levels of protection as a result of standardization.The current TBT Agreement extends and clarifies the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade reached in the Tokyo Round. Innovative features of the revised agreement are that it covers processing and production methods related to the characteristics of the product itself. The coverage of conformity assessment procedures is enlarged and the disciplines made more precise. Notification provisions applying to local government and non-governmental bodies are elaborated in more detail than in the Tokyo Round agreement. A Code of Good Practice for the Preparation, Adoption and Application of Standards by standardizing bodies, which is open to acceptance by private sector bodies as well as the public sector, is included as an annex to the agreement.
» Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) The ATC is the main international agreement on trade in textile products. It replaced the Multifiber Arrangement (MFA) on 1 January 1995. The ATC is a transitional instrument, built on the following key elements: (1) the product coverage, basically encompassing yarns, fabrics, made-up textile products and clothing; (2) a program for the progressive integration of these textile and clothing products into GATT 1994 rules; (3) a liberalization process to progressively enlarge existing quotas (until they are removed) by increasing annual growth rates at each stage; (4) a special safeguard mechanism to deal with new cases of serious damage or threat thereof to domestic producers during the transition period; (5) establishment of a Textiles Monitoring Body (TMB) to supervise the implementation of the agreement and ensure that the rules are faithfully followed; and (6) other provisions, including rules on circumvention of the quotas, their administration, treatment of non-MFA restrictions, and commitments undertaken elsewhere under the WTO's agreements and procedures affecting this sector.
» Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) Instituted at the end of the Uruguay Round, the TRIPs Agreement is an attempt to narrow the gaps in the way intellectual rights are protected around the world, and to bring them under common international rules. When there are trade disputes over intellectual property rights, the WTO's dispute settlement system is now available. The agreement covers five broad issues: (1) how basic principles of the trading system and other international intellectual property agreements should be applied; (2) how to give adequate protection to intellectual property rights; (3) how countries should enforce those rights adequately in their own territories; (4) how to settle disputes on intellectual property between members of the WTO; and (5) special transitional arrangements during the period when the new system is being introduced.
» Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs) The TRIMs Agreement recognizes that certain investment measures restrict and distort trade. It provides that no contracting party shall apply any trade restrictive investment measure (TRIM) inconsistent with Articles III (national treatment) and XI (prohibition of quantitative restrictions) of the GATT. To this end, an illustrative list of TRIMs agreed to be inconsistent with these articles is appended to the agreement.The list includes measures which require particular levels of local procurement by an enterprise ("local content requirements") or which restrict the volume or value of imports such an enterprise can purchase or use to an amount related to the level of products it exports ("trade balancing requirements"). The agreement requires mandatory notification of all non-conforming TRIMs and their elimination within two years for developed countries, within five years for developing countries and within seven years for least-developed countries. It establishes a Committee on TRIMs which will, among other things, monitor the implementation of these commitments. The agreement also provides for consideration, at a later date, of whether it should be complemented with provisions on investment and competition policy more broadly.
These are the main agricultural products (mostly primary) in solid state or that passed through a simple industrial process. The term 'commodity' refers to homogenous products made in a large scale and traded globally. Examples are: soybeans, corn, wheat, rice, cotton, coffee, rubber, orange juice, among others. This is the energy that comes from agriculture. Liquid biofuels (such as biodiesel from soybeans or sugarcane ethanol), electricity (burning sugarcane bagasse and rice straw), or thermal energy (forest production - pinus, eucalyptus) are examples of agriculture energy. This term is more limited that bioenergy, since it defines the feedstock used for the generation of energy. According to Annex 1 of the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture, agricultural products are defined as all products in Chapters 1 to 24 of the Harmonized System (HS), less fish and fish products, plus* HS Code 2905.43 (mannitol) HS Code 2905.44 (sorbitol) HS Heading 33.01 (essential oils) HS Headings 35.01 to 35.05 (albuminoidal substances, modified starches, glues) HS Code 3809.10 (finishing agents) HS Code 3823.60 (sorbitol n.e.p.) HS Headings 41.01 to 41.03 (hides and skins) HS Heading 43.01 (raw furskins) HS Headings 50.01 to 50.03 (raw silk and silk waste) HS Headings 51.01 to 51.03 (wool and animal hair) HS Headings 52.01 to 52.03 (raw cotton, waste and cotton carded or combed) HS Heading 53.01 (raw flax) HS Heading 53.02 (raw hemp) * The product descriptions in round brackets are not necessarily exhaustive.
This term defines all agricultural activities - plantation of perennial and annual crops - and animal raising - production of animals, where the main ones in Brazil are cattle, poultry and pork. Agriculture differs from agri-industry, since it only considers the production activities within the farm gate (i.e. activities inside the rural property). The Agriculture Census is done by the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) and is the most complete survey on the structure and production of Brazilian agriculture. At the national level, its results serve as a base for studies, analysis and projections on agricultural sector, comprising the largest source of information to all levels of government (federal, state and municipal) in preparing and monitoring public policies, improving the allocation of public resources. The objective of this study is to update data on previous census and offer information on economic, social and environmental aspects of agricultural activities. Source: IBGE The Agreement on Agriculture established a Committee on Agriculture at the WTO. The committee oversees the implementation of the agreement and affords members the opportunity of consulting on any matter relating to the implementation of commitments, including rule-based commitments. For this purpose, the committee usually meets four times per year. Special meetings can be convened if necessary.
The Amber Box comprises domestic support measures capable of distorting agricultural production and trade. Article 6 of the Agriculture Agreement defines the Amber Box as all forms of domestic support with the exception of those in the Blue and Green Boxes. Amber Box support is subject to limits, as only de minimis support is allowed (5% of agricultural production for developed countries, 10% for developing countries). The 30 WTO members that had larger subsidies than the de minimis levels at the beginning of the post-Uruguay Round reform period are committed to reduce these subsidies. Reduction commitments are expressed in terms of a Total Aggregate Measurement of Support (Total AMS), which includes all supports for specified products together with supports that are not for specific products. In the current negotiations, various proposals deal with how much further these subsidies should be reduced, and whether limits should be set for specific products rather than continuing with the single overall aggregate limits. As of June 2003, 34 WTO members made use of the Amber Box: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, the European Union, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Lithuania, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Switzerland-Liechtenstein, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, the United States, and Venezuela.
An anti-dumping measure is an instrument used by countries to counteract dumping practices by third countries. At the WTO level, anti-dumping measures shall be applied only under the circumstances provided for in Article VI of GATT 1994 and pursuant to investigations initiated and conducted in accordance with the provisions of this agreement. Application of anti-dumping measures involves the verification of three facts: existance of dumping practices, injury to the domestic industry of the importing country, and a causal relation between the dumping practice and the injury. In case of confirmation of dumping practices, the anti-dumping rights will be based on the difference between the exporting price charged by the exporting industry and the normal value of sales in its origin country, what confers the possibility of imposing antidumping duties.
Avoided Deforestation refers to the conservation of standing forest and is a popular reference to the term Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD). This is a mechanism for compensation to the countries that reduce deforestation based on a determined level, defined in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Since Brazil holds the greatest stock of tropical forest in the world, it may be the one of the main beneficiaries in terms of financing to be received for this purpose. |
