PART 6WTO Agreement on Agriculture

44Regulations under section 43: limits on provision of domestic support in the United Kingdom

(1)This section applies in relation to any domestic support to which a specific limit in respect of the United Kingdom applies under the Agreement on Agriculture (“domestic support of the relevant kind”).

(2)It is immaterial for the purposes of subsection (1) whether the domestic support in question is identified by indicating what the limit applies to or by indicating what it does not apply to (or by a combination of the two).

(3)Regulations under section 43 may make provision setting—

(a)a limit on the amount of domestic support of the relevant kind that may be given in the United Kingdom as a whole;

(b)a limit for each of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland on the amount of domestic support of the relevant kind that may be given in that country.

(4)The limit (if any) set under subsection (3)(a) may be less than the total amount of domestic support of the relevant kind that is allowable to the United Kingdom under the Agreement on Agriculture.

(5)Different limits may be set under subsection (3)(b) for different countries within the United Kingdom.

(6)A limit may be set under subsection (3)

(a)by specifying a monetary amount,

(b)in the case of a limit under subsection (3)(b), by specifying a percentage of—

(i)the limit under subsection (3)(a) (if any), or

(ii)the total amount of domestic support of the relevant kind that is allowable to the United Kingdom under the Agreement on Agriculture, or

(c)in any other way the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

(7)The regulations may provide for domestic support of a specified description not to count towards any one or more of the limits set under subsection (3).

(8)When considering what limits to set under subsection (3), and what is or is not to count towards the limits that are set, the matters that the Secretary of State may take into account include—

(a)domestic support that is or may be given across the whole of the United Kingdom, and

(b)financial support that—

(i)is or may be given in any territory outside the United Kingdom, and

(ii)counts towards the total amount of support (or support of a particular kind) that is allowable to the United Kingdom under the Agreement on Agriculture.