Agreement on Agriculture (AoA)

The Agreement on Agriculture at the WTO is riddled with deep imbalances, which favour the developed countries and have tilted the rules against many developing countries, a Union Minister has said.

Agreement on Agriculture

• The Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) is a World Trade Organisation treaty.
• It aims to reduce the agricultural support and subsidies given to domestic producers by different countries and to establish a fairer trading system that will increase market access and improve the livelihoods of farmers around the world.
• The treaty was negotiated during the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and formally ratified in 1994 at Marrakesh, Morocco.
• The AoA became effective in 1995.
• The agreement will enforce a level playing field for farmers around the world.
• This helps the farmers in poor countries who cannot compete with rich countries that artificially boost their exports through subsidies.
• The long-term goal of the AoA is to establish a fair and market-oriented agricultural trading system and to initiate a reform process through the negotiations and ensuring strengthened and more operationally effective rules and discipline.