Subsidy control: guidance

Agriculture, Fisheries and World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules

Agriculture

Subsidies relating to Agriculture must comply with the UK subsidy control requirements set out in the Act.  In addition, if a proposed measure falls within scope of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) the relevant WTO Regulations also apply.  The AoA covers financial assistance for most agricultural products, as well as certain forestry and horticultural products.

The AoA does not contain a specific definition of a subsidy, and instead refers to ‘Domestic Support’, which is defined as direct or indirect financial support. 

The scope of the AoA is determined by the product coverage listed in Annex 1 of the Agreement. If producers of these listed products are eligible for support, the measure is likely to fall within the AoA’s scope.

Classifications of support under the AoA

Support measures under the AoA are classified based on their potential to distort trade:

• Green Box: Support with no or minimal trade-distorting effects.
• Blue Box: Support that is trade-distorting (as it is coupled to levels of production), but with limited impact due to restrictions on production.
• Amber Box: Support considered potentially trade-distorting.

Green and Blue Box support are not subject to limits under the AoA. Support that does not meet the criteria for either box is classified by default as Amber Box and is subject to limits. The WTO limit for amber box support applies to the UK as a whole.  Scotland’s proportion of this limit is 12.67% of the UK total.

For transparency, all domestic support measures (Green, Blue, and Amber Box) within the AoA’s scope must be notified to the WTO annually.

World Trade Organisation (WTO) notification

New support measures (schemes) that fall within the AoA’s scope must be notified to the WTO via the UK Government’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA).  Under The World Trade Organisation Agreement on Agriculture (Domestic Support) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/1578), DEFRA is the designated body responsible for coordinating the collection of information to ensure UK compliance with the AoA.

The Regulations require that any authority proposing a new scheme must provide written notice of the support measure as soon as practicable, and typically at least six months before the intended adoption date.

This requirement also applies to amendments to existing schemes, as outlined in paragraph 6 of the Domestic Support Regulations.

DEFRA will circulate the proposed notification to relevant UK departments, including devolved governments, for comment. Following a brief consultation period, DEFRA will conduct its internal clearance process before submitting the notification to the WTO. Member states may raise questions about the measure during the WTO’s regular Committee on Agriculture (CoA) meetings. 

Notifications of new schemes / support measures (or amended support measures) should be sent to the Subsidy Control Team. Submissions must include:

• a completed Regulation 5 form
• an OECD Classification Template

Both documents are available under supporting documents. Contact the Subsidy Control Team for help with completing these forms.

Fisheries

Subsidies relating to fish, fish products and aquaculture must also comply with the UK Subsidy Control Act. The UK is also bound by the WTO Agreement on Fisheries, which was ratified on 15 September 2025. This agreement prohibits subsidies for fishing in overfished stocks and illegal fishing activities, requiring WTO members to provide detailed information about their fisheries subsidies and related activities.