The WTO Committee on Agriculture (COA) oversees the implementation of the Agriculture Agreement. Its key responsibility is to monitor how WTO members are complying with their commitments under the Agreement. “For me the Committee on Agriculture is an important and interesting committee, and I am honoured that the membership has entrusted me with this important task”, Mr. Vederhus says.
The Committee on Agriculture provides members with the opportunity to share information on the implementation of their commitments. Members can ask each other questions about the information they have shared through “notifications”, and may raise concerns about each other's agricultural policies.
“In the regular work of the committee it is valuable to improve notification practices, increase transparency and stimulate a meaningful review process”, Mr. Vederhus says. “In all these areas there is still room for improvement”.
Mr. Vederhus will chair his first meeting of the COA on 7 June 2017.
Biography
Alf Vederhus was posted to the Permanent Mission of Norway in Geneva in January 2014. He has previously been working as agricultural counsellor in the Mission of Norway to the EU in 2000-2004. Mr. Vederhus holds a Master degree in Agricultural economics from the University of Aas, Norway, and has been working with national and international agricultural policies, including trade, for more than 35 years.