Subsidy Control Bill — New Clause 1 — Exemption: Agriculture — 13 Dec 2021 at 20:00

The majority of MPs voted against exempting agricultural subsidies from conditions requiring them to be a proportionate and effective means of pursuing a policy, a last resort, and implemented in a way to minimise impacts on competition and investment.

MPs were considering the Subsidy Control Bill.^[1][2][3]

The Bill provided for state subsidies for businesses subject to them being proportionate and effective means of pursuing a policy, a last resort, and implemented in a way to minimise impacts on competition and investment.

The proposed new clause rejected in this vote was titled: Exemption: agriculture and stated:

• (1) The subsidy control requirements in Part 2 of this Act do not apply to—
• (a) the giving of an agricultural subsidy, or
• (b) the making of a subsidy scheme, so far as it relates to the giving of agricultural subsidies.
• (2) For the purpose of subsection (1), a subsidy is “agricultural” if it is subject to the provisions of Part IV or Annex 2 of the Agreement on Agriculture.
• (3) In this section “the Agreement on Agriculture” means the Agreement on Agriculture, contained in Annex 1A to the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, done at Marrakesh on 15 April 1994 (read with any adjustments necessary for context).

The rejected new clause was accompanied by the following explanatory statement from its proposer:

• This new clause exempts agricultural subsidies from the subsidy control requirements.

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• [1] Parliament's webpage on the Subsidy Control Bill, Parliament.uk
• [2] Subsidy Control Bill as introduced on 30 June 2021, Parliament.uk
• [3] Explanatory notes to the Subsidy Control Bill as introduced on 30 June 2021, Parliament.uk

Debate in Parliament |