Title: Special and Differential Treatment in Agricultural Trade: Breaking the Impasse
Abstract: Developing countries have long sought special and differential treatment (SDT) to help them integrate their economies into the world trading system. However, such initiatives have not only largely failed to achieve their goals but have tended to encourage inward-looking trade policies. The question of how to approach SDT has emerged as a key issue in the agricultural talks of the Doha Round negotiations, with Members unable to agree on a mutually satisfactory way forward. The authors argue that despite SDT's poor record, there remains an argument to be made for policies that have the goal of assisting developing countries deal with the adjustment costs of integrating their economies into the world trading regime. Thus, the relevant question is not whether SDT should exist at all, but what kinds of SDT measures can usefully be employed in the agricultural sector, given both lessons of the past and the realities of today's geopolitical environment. The paper addresses this question and explores possibilities for breaking the current impasse. It suggests that the primary focus of the negotiations ought to be on extending market access in agricultural products of export interest to all developing countries. In return, developing countries (other than LDCs) should make across-the-board commitments to agricultural liberalization, subject to longer transition periods and in particular to a special ex ante safeguards regime. This regime - as detailed in the paper - would focus SDT on protection of exceptionally vulnerable agricultural sectors likely to face severe adjustment costs from agricultural liberalization.
Publication Year: 2007
Publication Date: 2007-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 1
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