Agricultural Trade : What Matters in the Doha Round?

This survey concludes that including agriculture in the Doha Agenda negotiations was important both economically and politically, although the political resistance to reform is particularly strong in this sector. While agriculture accounts for less than 10 percent of merchandise trade, high and variable agricultural distortions appear to cause the majority of the cost of distortions to global merchandise trade. Within agriculture, most of the costs appear to arise from trade barriers levied on imports since these barriers tend to be high, variable across time and over products, and are levied by a wide range of countries. The negotiations faced a need for balance between discipline in reducing tariffs and hence creating the market access gains that are central to the negotiations, and flexibility in managing political pressures. While the approach of providing flexibility on a certain percentage of tariff lines is seriously flawed, the proposed Modalities still appear to provide worthwhile market access. Better ways appear to be needed to deal with developing countries' concerns about food price volatility while reducing the collective-action problems resulting from price insulation.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Laborde, David, Martin, Will
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2012-11
Subjects:	ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS, ADVERSE IMPACT, ADVERSE IMPACTS, AGRICULTURAL ECONOMIC, AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, AGRICULTURAL EXPORTERS, AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS, AGRICULTURAL GOODS, AGRICULTURAL INCENTIVES, AGRICULTURAL MARKET, AGRICULTURAL MARKET ACCESS, AGRICULTURAL MARKETS, AGRICULTURAL NEGOTIATIONS, AGRICULTURAL POLICIES, AGRICULTURAL POLICY, AGRICULTURAL PRICES, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS, AGRICULTURAL PROTECTION, AGRICULTURAL REFORM, AGRICULTURAL SECTOR, AGRICULTURAL SECTORS, AGRICULTURAL SUBSIDIES, AGRICULTURAL SUPPORT, AGRICULTURAL TARIFF, AGRICULTURAL TARIFFS, AGRICULTURAL TRADE, AGRICULTURAL TRADE LIBERALIZATION, AGRICULTURAL TRADE POLICY, AGRICULTURE, AVERAGE TARIFF, AVERAGE TARIFFS, BARRIERS TO TRADE, BENEFITS OF TRADE, CHANGES IN TRADE, COMMERCIAL POLICY, COMMODITIES, COMMODITY, COMMODITY PRICES, CONCESSIONS, CONSUMERS, COTTON, CUTTING, DEMAND ELASTICITY, DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DEVELOPING COUNTRY, DEVELOPMENT POLICY, DOMESTIC DISTORTIONS, DOMESTIC PRICE, DOMESTIC PRICES, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY, ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS, ECONOMIC POLICY, ECONOMIC RESEARCH, ECONOMIC VALUE, ECONOMIC WELFARE, EMERGING ECONOMIES, EX ANTE ASSESSMENT, EXCHANGE RATE, EXPORT, EXPORT BANS, EXPORT COMPETITION, EXPORT MARKETS, EXPORT OPPORTUNITIES, EXPORT PROHIBITIONS, EXPORT RESTRICTIONS, EXPORT SUBSIDIES, EXPORT SUPPLY, EXPORT TAX, EXPORT TAXES, EXPORTS, FAMINES, FARMERS, FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, FINANCIAL SUPPORT, FOOD PRICE, FOOD PRICES, FOOD SECURITY, FOREIGN EXCHANGE, FREE ACCESS, GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS, GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM, GLOBAL TRADE, GLOBAL TRADE ANALYSIS, GRAIN, IMPORT BARRIERS, IMPORT TARIFF, IMPORT TARIFFS, IMPORTS, INCOME, INCOMES, INDUSTRIAL COUNTRIES, INDUSTRIAL COUNTRY, INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS, INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS, INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS, INTERNATIONAL PRICES, INTERNATIONAL TRADE, ITC, LDCS, LIBERALIZATION OF TRADE, MARKET ACCESS, MULTILATERAL NEGOTIATIONS, MULTILATERAL PROCESS, MULTILATERAL TRADE, MULTILATERAL TRADE LIBERALIZATION, NET EXPORTERS, OPTIMAL TARIFFS, PARTICULAR COUNTRY, POLITICAL ECONOMY, PREFERENTIAL TRADE, PREFERENTIAL TRADE AGREEMENTS, PRICE VOLATILITY, PROTECTION DATA, PROTECTION RATES, PROTECTIONIST, PROTECTIVE TARIFFS, PUBLIC POLICIES, RATES OF PROTECTION, REAL INCOME, REDUCTIONS IN TARIFFS, ROUND OF MULTILATERAL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS, SAFEGUARD MEASURES, SHARE OF WORLD TRADE, SINGLE TARIFF, SMALL COUNTRIES, SMALL COUNTRY, SPECIAL SAFEGUARD, TARIFF BINDINGS, TARIFF CONCESSIONS, TARIFF EQUIVALENTS, TARIFF LINE, TARIFF LINES, TARIFF NEGOTIATIONS, TARIFF PREFERENCES, TARIFF PROTECTION, TARIFF RATE, TARIFF RATES, TARIFF REDUCTIONS, TAX, TERMS OF TRADE, TRADE AGREEMENTS, TRADE BARRIER, TRADE BARRIERS, TRADE DISTORTIONS, TRADE FACILITATION, TRADE IN GOODS, TRADE IN SERVICES, TRADE LIBERALIZATION PROCESS, TRADE MODEL, TRADE NEGOTIATION, TRADE POLICIES, TRADE REFORM, TRADE REGIMES, TRADING SYSTEM, TRANSPARENCY, UNILATERAL LIBERALIZATION, URUGUAY ROUND, VOLUME, WELFARE FUNCTION, WORLD ECONOMY, WORLD MARKETS, WORLD PRICE, WORLD PRICES, WORLD TRADE, WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION, WTO,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/11/16952254/agricultural-trade-matters-doha-round https://hdl.handle.net/10986/19926
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