The WTO Agreement On Agriculture And The Agricultural Subsidy Regulation Of Our Country

The agricultural trade was out of the control of GATT in a long time, and the protective policies of agriculture run wild. The important achievement of the Uruguay Round was that the agricultural trade was under the control of the multilateral trade system of the world. The Agreement on Agriculture was the first WTO agreement which regulated the policies of agricultural subsidy of the members. The contents of the Agreement on Agriculture are: (1) green boxes, which have not the distorted effect to the agricultural trade, need not require the commitments of members; (2) blue boxes, which are the direct payments in the plan of restricting output ;( 3) amber boxes, which have the distorted effect to the agricultural trade, must require the commitments of members; (4) de minimis, which means the percent of the AMS versus GDP is very low, need not require the commitments of members; (5) the three amber policies of developing countries need not require the commitments of members. It encourages fair play and pursues free trade, But what the Agreement on Agriculture objects to is not the policies of agricultural subsidy, but their means. The Agreement on Agriculture was made under the background of the introspection on protesting agriculture protectionism. A sequence of social contradictions became more serious with developed countries raising the subsidy level. First, the effect of protective policies of agriculture was so offset that the amount of the agricultural subsidy rose continuously. Secondly, the trade order of agricultural products was chaotic, and the trade wars became more frequent. Thirdly, the trade currency of agricultural products was twisted, and it's unfair to the countries which couldn't subsidize their agriculture. In order to avoid the contradictions arose by the protective policies of agriculture the Agreement on Agriculture launched the campaign of free trade of agricultural products attempting to establish a fair trade environment. However, it does not defy the agricultural subsides. Theoretically, agriculture is such vulnerable industry that the market rules can not apply absolutely to it. So it needs macroscopic regulation polices from government, comprising the agricultural subsidy policies. Legally, the aims of WTO consist of the augment of the production and trade and the improvement of the people'life level. These should be the same aims of the Agriculture Subsidy Regulation as a part of WTO law. So free trade is not its aim but its way. Practically, the proposal on the complete free trade of agricultural products was strongly opposed by the EU in the Uruguay Round. The negotiation parties came constrainedly to the "half-free"agreement at least in order to avoid the failure of the negotiation of the Uruguay Round. All the Members adjusted their agricultural subsidy policies under the guidance of legal value of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture. This paper chooses three countries (the union of countries) to introduce, which are the USA, the EU and Japan. The common things of the three members display in three aspects. First, the targets of agricultural subsidy are definite and concentrated. They are concentrating on improving the comprehensive ability to produce, stabilizing the farmer's income and protecting the ecological environment of agriculture. Secondly, the means of agricultural subsidy turn gradually from the amber boxes to the green boxes. All members have adjusted their agricultural subsidy policies according to WTO Agreement onAgriculture. Polices change from the amber boxes to the green boxea, and from the area of production to the area of currency in accordance with the tendency of free trade. Thirdly, the level of agricultural subsidy is high. The direct reason is to relieve the impact of policies adjustment to the agricultural production and the farmer's income. From the implementing situation of the members, the Agreement on Agriculture is the "half-free"agreement in the nature. It launched the campaign of free trade in the agricultural trade, but do not change the protective policies of agriculture of the developed members. It doesn't help to establish fair circumstances of agricultural trade, and it is a serious challenge to the developing members including China, which haven't the ability to subsidize the agriculture. According to commitments of agricultural part of our country, our rights on agricultural subsidy are green boxes, de minimis under 8.5% amber boxes, blue boxes, and export credit. The present situation of agricultural subsidy policies at present are: first, the targets of the agricultural subsidy aren't clear; secondly, the level of the agricultural subsidy is low; thirdly, the structure of the agricultural subsidy is unreasonable. The present situation worried a lot of people, and it is necessary and feasible to regulate the agricultural subsidy policies by means of law. The Agriculture Law is the basic law, and it regulates in principle the agricultural subsidy policies. The Agriculture Subsidy Regulation as inferior law should implement and fulfill its aims and provisions. Our government is legislating actively a Agricultural Subsidy Regulation. By analyzing the WTO agreement on agriculture and the adjustment condition of the agricultural subsidy policies of the USA, the EU and Japan, making decisions from...