Negotiating Agricultural Trade In A New Policy Environment

The challenges to meeting the growing global food demand—population and income growth and supply uncertainties complicated by climate change, environmental pressures, and water scarcity—all point to the increasing importance of trade and the need for a more, not less, open trading system. Growth in agricultural trade has been facilitated in part through the rules-based system established under the World Trade Organization (WTO), particularly the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture (AoA). The AoA was implemented in 1995 and brought substantial discipline to the areas of market access, domestic support, and export competition. However, progress since the Uruguay Round has been limited. While the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) was launched with much anticipation in 2001, members failed to reach agreement in July 2008 and the trade agenda in Geneva has since advanced slowly. Despite the best efforts of many, the negotiating intensity seen in late 2007 and 2008 has largely dissipated, in part due to the global recession and the inevitable changes in governments that sometime shift the focus of negotiations. Serious efforts were made to renew the negotiations, but in the end, members have had to be content with harvesting the low-hanging fruit, such as trade facilitation and export competition. Although there have been significant accomplishments, they represent but a small portion of what was on the table during the DDA negotiations. In addition, negotiated settlements on the tougher issues, such as market access and domestic support, have become more difficult to obtain in isolation. The recent experience at the WTO’s Eleventh Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires highlights the difficulties of reaching a negotiated settlement on domestic support in isolation from, say, market access. Given the increasing importance of trade in addressing food security needs and its critical role in efforts to eliminate malnutrition and hunger by 2030, achieving further progress in the liberalization of world trade is of paramount importance.

The challenges to meeting the growing global food demand -- population and income growth and supply uncertainties complicated by climate change, environmental pressures, and water scarcity -- all point to the increasing importance of trade and the need for a more, not less, open trading system. Growth in agricultural trade has been facilitated in part through the rules-based system established under the World Trade Organization (WTO), particularly the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture (AoA). The AoA was implemented in 1995 and brought substantial discipline to the areas of market access, domestic support, and export competition. However, progress since the Uruguay Round has been limited. While the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) was launched with much anticipation in 2001, members failed to reach agreement in July 2008 and the trade agenda in Geneva has since advanced slowly. Despite the best efforts of many, the negotiating intensity seen in late 2007 and 2008 has largely dissipated, in part due to the global recession and the inevitable changes in governments that sometime shift the focus of negotiations. Serious efforts were made to renew the negotiations, but in the end, members have had to be content with harvesting the low-hanging fruit, such as trade facilitation and export competition. Although there have been significant accomplishments, they represent but a small portion of what was on the table during the DDA negotiations. In addition, negotiated settlements on the tougher issues, such as market access and domestic support, have become more difficult to obtain in isolation. The recent experience at the WTO's Eleventh Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires highlights the difficulties of reaching a negotiated settlement on domestic support in isolation from, say, market access. Given the increasing importance of trade in addressing food security needs and its critical role in efforts to eliminate malnutrition and hunger by 2030, achieving further progress in the liberalization of world trade is of paramount importance.

Face the challenge of change in the global agricultural trade market! This insightful book presents a comprehensive overview of the trade situation facing agriculture in the 21st century. This esteemed collection of the field?s foremost researchers evaluates anticipated changes to the agricultural trade market and the competitiveness of commodities and products resulting from existing and potential international policies. Agricultural Trade Policies in the New Millennium provides an in-depth understanding of multilateral trade negotiations (past, present, and future) and the impact of regionalism on agricultural trade. It also analyzes trade issues specific to individual commodities, such as rice, wheat, and cotton. Agricultural Trade Policies in the New Millennium consolidates essential trade research into a one-of-a-kind reference source for economists, academics, and agriculture professionals. The book provides a detailed overview of current and potential trade situations, divided into three concise sections: key issues influencing trade negotiations from the perspective of developed and developing countries and the environment; commodity trade and trade policy issues concerning competitiveness and the international policy environment for coarse grains, cotton, rice, sugar, and wheat; and general issues related to multilateral and regional trade agreements, including policy tools within the World Trade Organization, anti-dumping actions, regionalism, price volatility, and the macroeconomic effects of trade liberalization. Agricultural Trade Policies in the New Millennium examines: key issues influencing trade negotiations commodity trade and trade policy issues issues and concerns related to multilateral and regional trade negotiations challenges facing trade policy prospects for the agricultural sector in the new millennium With international policy issues like the WTO’s Millennium Round and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) in negotiation and a new United States farm bill pending, Agricultural Trade Policies in the New Millennium provides much-needed textbook analysis by expert researchers. This vital book will keep you in touch with current trade negotiations and policy decisions that are certain to hold major implications for the agricultural sector.

With the conclusion of the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture in 1994, agriculture has for the first time been integrated into world trade rules and disciplines. WTO Members have made a commitment to continue the reform process initiated during the Uruguay Round by starting new WTO negotiations on agriculture by 2000. This book combines academic analysis with practical expertise to discuss, in an accessible and systematic way, some of the principal aspects of these agricultural negotiations, and aims to make recommendations for viable and successful negotiating positions in the new WTO talks on agricultural trade. Several expert articles outline the historical and political background of previous negotiations and policy developments in agricultural trade. Others provide an overview of the key issues for the new round of negotiations, including: the Common Agricultural Policy reform in view of the Millennium Round objectives and future enlargement of the European Union; the prospects for negotiations in the areas of market access and export subsidies; and aspects of primary importance for the future of international agricultural trade such as food safety and quality standards, environmental and animal welfare considerations, and issues under dispute in the WTO. The positions of leading actors in the new round of negotiations, including major countries (Japan and the United States), groups of countries (the European Union, the Cairns Group and net food-importing countries) and European farmers are also presented.

This book presents a descriptive analysis of the political economy of the European Community, the U.S. and Canada. It describes the structural changes and the crises in agriculture and focuses on impact of GATT on agricultural policy and trade in the post-Second World War era.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Agriculture has had a fundamental impact on agricultural policy worldwide. The new WTO agreements will cover agriculture,sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade and trade in intellectual property rights. This book addresses the interface between the law of international agricultural trade, the emerging legal and economic order for agricultural trade under the auspices of the WTO, and its impact on agricultural policy reform both in the European Union and the USA. With contributions from leading authorities in the appropriate areas.