Overview
The Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) marked
a turning point in the history of the multilateral trading
system by subjecting agricultural trade to essentially
the same rules that discipline trade in industrial goods.
For the first time, WTO members committed to reducing
agricultural tariffs, export subsidies, and trade-distorting
domestic support. The latest round of WTO trade negotiations,
launched in the Qatari capital of Doha in November 2001,
are the most ambitious attempt ever to spur global economic
growth by liberalizing trade in agricultural and non-agricultural
goods as well as freeing up trade in services.
In launching the Doha negotiations, WTO members recognized
the contribution of the multilateral trading system to
economic growth and development and pledged to continue
the process of reform and liberalization of economic policies.
The Doha
Ministerial Declaration placed the interests of developing
countries, who constitute the majority of WTO members,
at the heart of negotiations, adding a new dimension to
the talks that increased both the potential gains and
the complexity of reaching agreement. More
overview...
Features
World Trade Organization and Globalization Help Facilitate Growth in Agricultural Trade (June 2008). Despite strong criticism of the WTO, membership in the organization continues to grow. WTO member countries trade concessions to gain access to foreign markets, benefiting producers and consumers in the aggregate. The growth of the WTO has helped facilitate the globalization of agriculture.
Global
Agriculture and the Doha Round: Market Access Is the Key (September 2006).
Increasing market access by lowering tariffs has been
shown to produce the greatest share of benefits from agricultural
trade liberalization. Nonetheless, reducing high agricultural
tariffs remains a sticking point in the Doha Round of
trade talks.
The Road Ahead: Agricultural Policy Reform in the WTO—Summary Report (January 2001). Agricultural trade barriers and producer subsidies inflict real costs on the countries that use these policies and on their trade partners. If trade negotiations resulted in full elimination of agricultural price-distorting policies—market access limitations, domestic support to producers, and export subsidies—the results would include an annual increase in world welfare, or consumer purchasing power, of $56 billion over the next 15 years.
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