{"id":1860,"date":"2024-03-30T00:48:16","date_gmt":"2024-03-29T19:18:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/?p=1860"},"modified":"2024-04-03T07:09:43","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T01:39:43","slug":"q-in-the-context-of-which-of-the-following-do-you-sometimes-find-the-terms-amber-box-blue-box-and-green-box-in-the-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/upsc\/q-in-the-context-of-which-of-the-following-do-you-sometimes-find-the-terms-amber-box-blue-box-and-green-box-in-the-news","title":{"rendered":"Q.\u00a0In the context of which of the following do you sometimes find the terms \u2018amber box, blue box and green box\u2019 in the news?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"mcq wp-block-list\">\n<li>WTO affairs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>SAARC affairs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>UNFCCC affairs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India-EU negotiations on FTA<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Answer:<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>(a) WTO affairs<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"subsidies-under-wto\">Subsidies under WTO:<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In WTO terminology,&nbsp;<strong>subsidies in general are identified by \u201cBoxes\u201d which are given the colours of traffic lights: green (permitted), amber (slow down \u2014 i.e. be reduced), red (forbidden)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In agriculture, things are, as usual, more complicated. The\u00a0<strong>Agriculture Agreement has no Red Box, although domestic support exceeding the reduction commitment levels in the Amber Box is prohibited; and there is a Blue Box for subsidies that are tied to programmes that limit production<\/strong>.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>There are also exemptions for developing countries (sometimes called an \u201c<strong>S&amp;D Box<\/strong>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<strong>\u201cdevelopment box\u201d,<\/strong>&nbsp;including provisions in Article 6.2 of the Agreement).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Amber Box<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Amber box subsidies are those\u00a0<strong>that can distort international trade by making a country\u2019s products cheaper<\/strong>\u00a0in comparison to those of other countries.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Examples:<\/strong>&nbsp;Subsidies for inputs such as&nbsp;<strong>fertilisers, seeds, electricity, irrigation,<\/strong>&nbsp;and<strong>&nbsp;Minimum Support Price (MSP).<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>According to the WTO, agriculture\u2019s\u00a0<strong>amber box is used for all domestic support measures<\/strong>\u00a0that are deemed to distort production and trade.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>As a result, the trade&nbsp;<strong>agreement requires signatories to commit to reducing trade-distorting domestic supports<\/strong>&nbsp;that fall into the amber box.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Members who do not make these commitments must keep their amber box support<strong>&nbsp;within 5-10%<\/strong>\u00a0of their value of production.\u00a0<em><strong>(Di Minimus Clause)<\/strong><\/em>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>10% for developing countries<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>5% for developed countries<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Blue Box<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It is the&nbsp;<strong>\u201camber box with conditions\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2014 conditions, designed to reduce distortion.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Any support that would normally be in the amber box is placed in the blue box if\u00a0<strong>it requires farmers to limit production.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>These subsidies aim to limit production by imposing production quotas or requiring farmers to set aside part of their land.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>At present there are&nbsp;<strong>no limits on spending on blue box subsidies.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Green Box:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The green box is defined in&nbsp;<strong>Annex 2<\/strong>&nbsp;of the Agriculture Agreement.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Green Box is domestic support<strong>&nbsp;measures that don\u2019t cause trade distortion or at most cause minimal distortion.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Green box subsidies are\u00a0<strong>government funded without any price support to crops.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>They also include environmental protection and regional development programmes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cGreen box\u201d subsidies are therefore<strong>&nbsp;allowed without limits<\/strong>&nbsp;(except in certain circumstances).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"development\">Development Box<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Article 6.2 of the Agriculture Agreement&nbsp;<strong>allows developing countries additional flexibilities in providing domestic support.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The type of support that fits into the developmental category are&nbsp;<strong>measures of assistance, whether direct or indirect, designed to encourage agricultural and rural development and that are an integral part of the development programmes<\/strong>&nbsp;of developing countries.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They include&nbsp;<strong>investment subsidies<\/strong>&nbsp;which are generally available to agriculture in developing country members,&nbsp;<strong>agricultural input subsidies<\/strong>&nbsp;generally available to low-income or resource-poor producers in developing country members, and&nbsp;<strong>domestic support to producers<\/strong>&nbsp;in developing country members to encourage diversification from growing illicit narcotic crops.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"wtos-peace-clause\">WTO\u2019s Peace Clause<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>As an interim measure, the WTO members agreed on a mechanism called the<strong>&nbsp;\u2018Peace Clause\u2019<\/strong>&nbsp;in December 2013 and&nbsp;<strong>pledged to negotiate a permanent solution.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Under the Peace Clause, WTO members&nbsp;<strong>agreed to refrain from challenging any breach in prescribed ceiling<\/strong>&nbsp;by a developing nation at the dispute settlement forum of the WTO.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This clause will stay till a permanent solution is found to the food stockpiling issue.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Answer:&nbsp;(a) WTO affairs Subsidies under WTO: Amber Box: Blue Box: Green Box: Development Box WTO\u2019s Peace Clause<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,3],"tags":[38],"years":[57],"class_list":["post-1860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-upsc","category-prelims","tag-indian-economy","years-57"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":1,"label":"UPSC"},{"value":3,"label":"Prelims"}],"post_tag":[{"value":38,"label":"Indian 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