The idea of replacing agricultural price support with direct payments to farmers decoupled from production dates back to the late 1950s, when a Panel of Experts, chaired by Professor Gottfried Haberler, was established at the twelfth session of the GATT Contracting Parties to examine the effect of agricultural protectionism, fluctuating commodity prices and the failure of export earnings to keep pace with import demand in developing countries. The 1958 Haberler Report stressed the importance of minimizing the effect of agriculture subsidies on competitiveness, and recommended replacing price support by direct supplementary payments not linked with production, anticipating discussion on green box subsidies. Only more recently, though, has this shift from price support to producer support become the core of the reform of the global agricultural system.