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WTO Constraints on Domestic Support in Agriculture: Past and Future

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  • Lars Brink

Abstract

The domestic support provisions in the WTO Agreement on Agriculture originate in the 1958 Haberler Report. Economic analysis often overlooks the agreement's legally important distinctions. Few domestic support issues lead to dispute settlement proceedings. The Doha negotiations would result in more constraints on domestic support than the sole commitment on Total Aggregate Measurement of Support (AMS) in the present agreement: ceilings on overall trade‐distorting support and blue box payments, and also product‐specific caps. Some 18 members would reduce their Total AMS commitments, and 25 would reduce the de minimis percentages. Most members would not reduce their constraints at all or only little. If today's developing countries continue to grow as they did in recent decades, their capacity to support agriculture increases significantly. If they then choose to support agriculture as today's developed countries did at the same stage of economic development, the future WTO constraints on trade‐distorting domestic support would allow them to provide considerably more such support than developed countries. Les règles sur le soutien interne de l'Accord sur l'agriculture de l'OMC tirent son origine du rapport ≪Haberler≫ de 1958. L'analyse économique oublie souvent les distinctions d'importance juridique de l'accord. Peu de questions en soutien interne entraînent des procédures de règlement des différends. Les négociations de Doha se solderaient par plus de contraintes sur le soutien que le seul engagement de l'accord actuel, celui sur la mesure globale de soutien (MGS) totale. Ces contraintes comprennent des plafonds sur le soutien interne global ayant des effets de distorsion des échanges et sur les paiements dans la boîte bleue, ainsi que des plafonds par produit. Environ 18 membres réduiraient leurs engagements sur la MGS totale, et 25 membres réduiraient les pourcentages de minimis. La plupart des membres ne réduiraient pas leurs engagements ou les réduiraient seulement un peu. Si la croissance économique des pays, qui aujourd'hui sont en voie de développement, continue au même taux que dans les décennies récentes, leur capacité de soutenir leur agriculture augmente. S'ils choisissaient dans l'avenir de soutenir leur agriculture, comme l'ont fait les pays qui sont aujourd'hui les pays développés lorsqu'ils se trouvaient au même stage de développement, les contraintes futures de l'OMC sur le soutien interne faussant les échanges permettraient aux pays en voie de développement d'accorder de tel soutien dans des montants considérablement plus importants que ceux des pays développés.

Suggested Citation

  • Lars Brink, 2009. "WTO Constraints on Domestic Support in Agriculture: Past and Future," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 57(1), pages 1-21, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:canjag:v:57:y:2009:i:1:p:1-21
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1744-7976.2008.01135.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Brink, Lars, 2005. "WTO Constraints on U.S. and EU Domestic Support in Agriculture: Assessing the October 2005 Proposals," Working Papers 14601, International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium.
    2. Brink, Lars, 2001. "Establishing Domestic Support Commitments Through A Harmonization Formula," Working Papers 14613, International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium.
    3. Kym Anderson, 2009. "Distorted Agricultural Incentives and Economic Development: Asia's Experience," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3), pages 351-384, March.
    4. Anonymous, 1958. "General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(3), pages 417-418, July.
    5. World Bank, 2007. "World Development Indicators 2007," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 8150.
    6. James Rude, 2008. "Production Effects of the European Union's Single Farm Payment," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 56(4), pages 457-471, December.
    7. Kym Anderson, 2006. "Reducing Distortions to Agricultural Incentives: Progress, Pitfalls, and Prospects," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 88(5), pages 1135-1146.
    8. Brink, Lars, 2007. "Classifying, Measuring and Analyzing WTO Domestic Support in Agriculture: Some Conceptual Distinctions," Working Papers 14581, International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium.
    9. Wilfrid Legg, 2003. "Presidential Address Agricultural Subsidies: Measurement and Use in Policy Evaluation," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 175-201, July.
    10. World Bank, 2008. "World Development Indicators 2008," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 11855.
    11. Brink, Lars, 2006. "WTO Constraints on U.S. and EU Domestic Support in Agriculture: The October 2005 Proposals," Estey Centre Journal of International Law and Trade Policy, Estey Centre for Law and Economics in International Trade, vol. 7(1), pages 1-20.
    12. Anonymous, 1958. "General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(2), pages 261-263, April.
    13. World Bank, 2008. "World Development Indicators 2008," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 28241.
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    1. Jim Hansen & Francis Tuan & Linxiu Zhang & Agapi Somwaru, 2011. "Do China's agricultural policies matter for world commodity markets?," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 3(1), pages 6-25, January.
    2. Díaz-Bonilla, Eugenio, 2014. "On food security stocks, peace clauses, and permanent solutions after Bali:," IFPRI discussion papers 1388, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    3. Beckman, Jayson & Dyck, John & Heerman, Kari, 2017. "The Global Landscape of Agricultural Trade, 1995-2014," Economic Information Bulletin 265270, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    4. Díaz-Bonilla, Eugenio, 2015. "Lost in translation: The fractured conversation about trade and food security:," IFPRI discussion papers 1490, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    5. Wusheng Yu & Hans G. Jensen, 2010. "China’s Agricultural Policy Transition: Impacts of Recent Reforms and Future Scenarios," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(2), pages 343-368, June.
    6. Díaz-Bonilla, Eugenio, 2017. "Food security stocks: Economic and operational issues:," IFPRI book chapters, in: Bouët, Antoine & Laborde Debucquet, David (ed.), Agriculture, development, and the global trading system: 2000– 2015, chapter 8, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. H. Bruce Huff, 2010. "Making Doha More Developmentally Friendly for Agriculture," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 58(1), pages 23-35, March.
    8. Orden, David, 2013. "The Changing Structure of Domestic Support and Its Implications for Trade," Commissioned Papers 146657, Canadian Agricultural Trade Policy Research Network.

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