{
  "id": "RL34010",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL34010",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 348499,
      "date": "2007-05-21",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T18:07:53.957029",
      "title": "WTO Compliance Status of the Conservation Security Program (CSP) and the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)",
      "summary": "Under the auspices of the Uruguay Round\u2019s Agreement on Agriculture (AA), members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreed to limit and reduce their most distortive domestic support subsidies. Several types of domestic subsidies were identified as causing minimal distortion to agricultural production and trade, as identified in Annex II (the so-called Green Box) of the AA, and were provided exemption from WTO disciplines. Potential \u201cGreen Box\u201d policies include outlays for conservation activities such as the Conservation Security Program and long-term land retirement programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program. Yet, certain aspects of both programs potentially are ambiguous or fall into \u201cgray\u201d zones concerning their compliance with WTO rules. This report is not a legal opinion, but describes both the CSP and CRP programs, the WTO Annex II provisions that govern compliance, and the potential issues involved in evaluating the compliance status of the two programs.\nThe Conservation Security Program (CSP) makes payments to participating landowners who advance conservation and improvement of natural resources on tribal and private working lands. Payments are determined by the level (or tier) of participation, conservation activities completed, and acres enrolled. In FY2006, USDA spent $259 million supporting 19,375 CSP contracts covering 15.8 million acres. Federal outlays for CSP activities have yet to be notified to the WTO; however, it is likely that CSP payments will be notified as Green Box-compliant environmental program payments under paragraph 12 of Annex II. Inclusion under paragraph 12 hinges on the payments being limited to the cost of expenses incurred or income forgone in implementing conservation practices. CSP cost-share payments fit this requirement. However, other CSP payments either made in excess of costs incurred or income forgone, or made in the nature of bonus or incentive payments to induce participation, are more difficult to classify.\nThe Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) compensates producers for removing environmentally sensitive, privately owned land from production for 10 years or more to conserve soil and water resources. The CRP is the federal government\u2019s largest conservation and private land retirement program. In FY2006, CRP outlays totaled $1.8 billion and covered almost 37 million enrolled acres. CRP payments for the period 1996 through 2001 have been notified to the WTO as Green Box-compliant long-term resource retirement payments under paragraph 10 of Annex II. Inclusion under paragraph 10 hinges on the payments being used to retire land from marketable agricultural production for at least three years. Use of CRP land for agricultural production (e.g., cutting hay, grazing, or biomass production) potentially could disqualify the land from Green Box eligibility for that particular year; and potentially for all years of a long-term retirement contract if the productive activity is engaged in more frequently than once every four years. A potential alternative would be to reclassify the productive use of CRP land as a type of environmental program where payments would be subject to the criteria discussed under the CSP program. This report will be updated as events warrant.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "encoding": "utf-8",
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL34010",
          "sha1": "1e68ce382fefce3e6444c1beceb59ad96cf3e3b0",
          "filename": "files/20070521_RL34010_1e68ce382fefce3e6444c1beceb59ad96cf3e3b0.html",
          "images": null
        },
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "encoding": null,
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL34010",
          "sha1": "389ca53a3a0d304fadbbb485e3d1b141ba0a782f",
          "filename": "files/20070521_RL34010_389ca53a3a0d304fadbbb485e3d1b141ba0a782f.pdf",
          "images": null
        }
      ],
      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": []
}