FAS Lists Updated WTO Trigger Levels for Safeguard Duties on Agricultural Goods
The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service published a list of updated quantity trigger levels and applicable periods for products that may be subject to additional import duties under the safeguard provisions of the World Trade Organization Agreement on Agriculture.
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Additional Duties on Certain Agricultural Goods Allowed if Quantity-Based Trigger Met
The WTO Agreement on Agriculture permits additional duties to be imposed on certain products if the volume of imports of the product exceeds the average of the most recent three years for which data is available by 5%, 10% or 25%, depending on the article. This provision is referred to as the “quantity-based” safeguard trigger. Quantity trigger levels must be updated annually based upon import levels during the most recent three years, FAS said.
Additional duties may not be imposed on quantities for which minimum or current access commitments were made during the Uruguay Round negotiations, and only one type of safeguard, price or quantity may be applied at any given time to an article.
(The WTO Agreement on Agriculture also permits “price-based” safeguards to be imposed if the price of an individual shipment of imported products falls below the average price for similar goods imported during the years 1986-88 by a specified percentage.)
Quantity-Based Trigger Levels for Beef, Peanuts, Sugar, Cotton, Etc.
The Annex to this notice contains the updated quantity-based trigger levels for the following agricultural products (partial list): beef, mutton, cream, certain types of milk, butter, various types of cheeses, peanuts, raw cane sugar, refined cane sugar and syrups, infant formula containing oligosaccharides, chocolate crumb, mixes and doughs, mixed condiments and seasonings, ice cream, animal feed containing milk, and certain cotton. These products are normally subject to tariff-rate quotas (TRQs).