G A T T And Global Agriculture

Trade in temperate zone farm products between the developed countries has been beset with problems since the GATT's inception in 1947. The basic problem was always that the conditions in world agricultural markets were distorted by the national agricultural policies followed by all developed countries - policies which national authorities were reluctant to adapt to conform with the requirements of a liberal international trading system for agricultural products. This book describes and analyses the attempts that were made to make trade in agriculture less distorted, more stable and predictable, and less of a dangerous source of political friction between nations, in successive rounds of negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in the 45-year period from GATT's inception in 1947 to the end of the Uruguay Round in 1993. While the book analyses the development of international trade policy throughout the post-war period, particular attention is given to the Kennedy, Tokyo and Uruguay Rounds of GATT negotiations in which the problems of trade in agricultural products were confronted.

Examination of proposal for tariffication and disciplines on subsidies and quantitative controls currently under negotiation; Special and differential treatment, agriculture, and the developing countries in the Uruguay round; Nontraditional exports of developing countries: the case of horticultural exports; The impact of trade liberalization on low-income, food-deficit countries; Food security and compensation: the role of the GATT; The impact of trade liberalization on domestic and international price instability.

This history of GATT explains how trade was implicated in foreign policy and international relations and connected to global order.

Since the establishment of the WTO, there have been significant changes in the legal and institutional landscape of many developing countries. Whatever the motivation for trade-related legal reform, our experience in the FAO Legal Office has been that besides the substantial costs involved, there are many challenges to successful and meaningful legal and institutional reforms. Legal drafters must therefore be well aware of the existing legal and administrative culture. They must also have a realistic appreciation of the resource constraints in the country, for inadequate resources certainly restrict the ability of implementing bodies to put new rules into practice. This study is about the nature and extent of these trade-related legal and institutional reforms with a particular focus on those of direct relevance to the agricultural sector. In addition to the sectoral focus on agriculture, the study places distinct emphasis on the challenges of developing countries in the implementation of trade-related international obligations in the agricultural sector. It derives from FAO's experience in advising countries on the implementation of agriculture-related WTO agreements, key elements of which are discussed and illustrated by three representative case studies.

Agricultural trade, always a source of international friction, will remain a contentious issue in the years to come. The GATT agreement achieved only partial trade liberalization; recognizing this, the agreement calls for a continuation of the negotiation process to achieve the long-run goal of a “substantial reduction in agricultural support and protection.†In any case, it is clear that U.S.-European Union (EU) agricultural trade relations will remain central to any future negotiation. In this volume, leading experts present a comprehensive set of analyses of the U.S.-EU agricultural trade conflict. The discussions provide a unique perspective on the U.S.-EU agricultural trade confrontation in recent years and offer insights into both the final GATT agreement and forthcoming agricultural issues. Presenting a broad historical context, the book focuses on changes in U.S. and European trade and agricultural policies, looking at the implications of these changes for bilateral relations and global agricultural markets. Providing U.S., EU, and third-party perspectives, the contributors analyze the negotiation process in the Uruguay Round of the GATT. Finally, the book explores several additional dimensions of the U.S.-EU agricultural trade conflict, including the consequences of the EU integration and enlargement processes, the environmental impact of the Union’s agricultural policies, and the mechanisms and forces that determine agricultural policy formation in both the United States and in Europe.

This study reviews policy developments in recent years and, in the light of that, explores ways in which further consensus might be reached among WTO members to reduce farm trade distortions – and thereby also progress the multilateral trade reform agenda. Particular attention is given to ways that would boost well-being in developing countries, especially for those food-insecure households still suffering from poverty and hunger.