New Delhi's proposals, along with others, will be considered during the on-going mandated negotiations on agriculture under WTO auspices in Geneva.

The implementation of the agreement in past six years reveals that these member-countries have shifted export subsidies between products from year to year to target a few specific commodities and have also rolled over unused subsidies to the following year, eroding the competitiveness of other exporting countries.

The developing WTO member-countries are seriously concerned over these export subsidies as they "destabilise" and "depress" the international market prices, impacting adversely their farm incomes. Further, the export subsidies encourage inefficient production of agricultural products in developed countries, while discouraging domestic production in food importing countries.

The principal commodities, which have a high incidence of export subsidies include wheat, coarse grains, oilseeds, vegetable oil, sugar, dairy products, dry fruits and vegetables.

The developed countries are committed to reduce the value of subsidies by 36 per cent from the base period 1986-90 and to lower the volume of subsidies exports by 21 per cent in six years. The measurement of the reduction is to be on the basis of commodity aggregates.

By and large, all the countries have complied with their overall reduction in commitments at the aggregate level. However, as per the data compiled by the World Trade Organisation secretariat, the actual use of subsidies in terms of both budgetary outlays and volume has increased for some items in major subsidising countries between 1995 and 1998.

Export credits, guarantees and insurance programmes have not been included in the export subsidy reduction commitments under the AOA. These schemes are operated mainly by resource-rich countries to maintain and enhance their exports, which are actually in the nature of export subsidisation.

India, however, feels that the absence of clear guidelines governing the export subsidisation in the agreement has had the effect of circumventing the subsidy reduction commitments.