World Food Situation - Analysis and Reports
An archive of documents contained on the World Food Situation Portal [ more... ]

STAPLE FOOD TRADE AND MARKET POLICY OPTIONS FOR PROMOTING DEVELOPMENT IN EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA
The purpose of the workshop is to review existing knowledge and practical experience about food trade policy with a view to informing the debate on appropriate trade policy in the E&SA region, particularly as it concerns basic food products. [ more... ]

Policies for Basic Food Commodities: 2003-2004
This third review of policies for basic food commodities reports the principal policy developments implemented in 2003 and 2004 in production, consumption, marketing and trade of cereals, oilseeds and livestock products. The information has been obtained through policy questionnaires, official and unofficial sources. As in the previous two reports, the main purpose of the issue is to provide a brief description of the most important policy measures introduced by governments during the period under review, rather than to draw their market implications. As a result, the publication mainly lends itself to being a reference text for consultation and historical memory. [ more... ]

The Extent and Impact of Import Surges: The Case of Developing Countries
Description:
Import surges and their perceived negative effects on producers in an importing country is a sensitive matter, and hence the reporting of such episodes hit headlines. This phenomenon seems to be on the rise particularly since mid-1990s, which is one reason why many observers relate this phenomenon to the opening up of domestic markets with the implementation of the AoA. [ more... ]

Commodity Market Review 2003-2004
The present issue of the Commodity Market Review (CMR) marks a significant departure from past issues of the same named FAO publication. In the past the main focus of the CMR was a review of developments in agricultural commodity markets, a description of the current situation, and a short term outlook for these commodities. The CMR 2001-2002 departed somewhat from this format, by including some short analytical articles that tried to explain in more detail the factors that shape commodity market developments. [ more... ]

Global food markets, trade and aid: a perspective on vulnerable and food insecure countries
Presentation at an international workshop on Defining the Role of Food Aid in Contributing to Sustainable Food Security, Berlin, 2003. [ more... ]

Basic facts related to global agricultural commodity markets and current trade policy issues
This report aims at providing a handy reference for those interested in basic facts concerning agricultural commodities. It draws on material presented by the Commodities and Trade Division at the Consultation on Commodity Price Problems, 25-26 March 2002, the proceedings of which have been issued separately. [ more... ]

Consultation on agricultural commodity price problems
This is the proceedings of a meeting held in FAO Headquarters in Rome on 25-26 March 2002 to discuss the nature of the agricultural price developments observed during the latter part of the 1990s. [ more... ]

Portal Page: Environmental and social certification for responsible agricultural production and trade

Certification in the value chain for fresh fruits: the example of banana industry

Value-adding standards in the North American food market

Private standards in the United States and European Union markets for fruit and vegetables

Technical regulations and standards for food exports: trust and the credence goods problem

The Japanese Market for Environmentally and Socially Certified Agricultural Products from Central America

Voluntary Standards and Certification for Environmentally and Socially Responsible Agricultural Production and Trade

Environmental and Social Standards, Certification and Labelling for Cash Crops

Organic agriculture

Organic Fruits and Vegetables

Manuals on certification for agricultural exports

ITC's Market News Service for organic products

Working Group on Environmentally and Socially Responsible Horticulture Production and Trade

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Voluntary standards and certification for environmentally and socially responsible agricultural production and trade. Pascal Liu, Mikkel Andersen, Catherine Pazderka. FAO Commodities and Trade Technical Paper No. 5.
This publication is a summary of the presentations and discussions that took place during the meeting on "Voluntary standards and certification for environmentally and socially responsible agricultural production and trade" organized by FAO in April 2004. It presents the situation of the main import markets for certified products and the evolution of demand. Case studies aimed at comparing sustainable farming methods with conventional methods are presented. [ more... ]

Small island developing states. Agricultural production and trade, preferences and policy. FAO Commodities and Trade Technical Paper No. 7.
This report is meant to contribute to the continuing debate related to small states and their agriculture sectors in the multilateral trade framework. It looks at the specific challenges faced by small states and the importance of non-reciprocal preferences. [ more... ]

The Market for Non Traditional Agricultural Exports. David Hallam, Gill Lavers, Pascal Liu, Paul Pilkauskas, George Rapsomanikis, Julie Claro. FAO Commodities and Trade Technical Paper No. 3.
The last decade has witnessed a steady decline in the dollar values of many of the traditional agricultural export crops (TAEs) from developing countries and has highlighted the risks of depending upon a very narrow export base for foreign exchange earnings. Breaking the dependence upon the traditional primary commodities and diversifying into higher value or added value exports is not easy. [ more... ]

Environmental and Social Standards, Certification and Labelling for Cash Crops. Cora Dankers, Pascal Liu. FAO Commodities and Trade Technical Paper No. 2.
A variety of voluntary social and environmental standards and certification programmes in agriculture have appeared during the past twenty years. [ more... ]

Price transmission in selected agricultural markets, by Piero Conforti. FAO Commodity and Trade Policy Research Working Paper No. 7.
The paper is aimed at providing evidence on price transmission in a number of agricultural markets, both per se and in support of analytical efforts in the area of agricultural trade policy analysis. [ more... ]

Agricultural trade liberalization in the Doha round. Alternative scenarios and strategic interaction between developed and developing countries, by Piero Conforti and Luca Salvatici. FAO Commodity and Trade Policy Research Working Paper No. 10.
The paper explores the impact of an agricultural trade agreement, simulating alternative liberalization scenarios, and studying the outcomes of the interaction between the strategies of country groups in the negotiations. [ more... ]

Agricultural Policy Indicators, by Timothy E. Josling and Alberto Valdés. FAO Commodity and Trade Policy Research Working Paper No. 4.
This paper outlines a methodological approach for use by FAO to collect, analyze and monitor agricultural policy indicators (API) for developing countries. [ more... ]

Quantifying appropriate levels of the WTO bound tariffs on basic food products in the context of the Development Box proposals, by Ramesh Sharma. FAO Commodity and Trade Policy Research Working Paper No. 3.
Many developing countries in their WTO negotiating proposals on market access have called for the option for them to set appropriate levels of bound tariffs, as special and differential treatment, for selected products vital for food and livelihood security. [ more... ]

The WTO and environmental and social standards, certification and labelling in agriculture, by Cora Dankers. FAO Commodity and Trade Policy Research Working Paper No. 2.
This paper reflects on the GATT/WTO legal aspects of social and environmental standards and voluntary certification and labelling programmes in agriculture. [ more... ]

The Japanese Market for Environmentally and Socially Certified Agricultural Products from Central America (click on right side of screen)

This publication analyses the Japanese market for foods certified as produced against environmental and social standards such as those of organic farming, fair-trade and Rainforest Alliance. After a general presentation of the Japanese market for these products, its history and regulations, the study focuses on those certified products which are cultivated in Central America, notably tropical fruits, coffee, cocoa, sugar and sesame. The study was carried out by IFOAM Japan in 2004 under the technical supervision of the Raw Materials, Tropical and Horticultural Products Service of FAO and funded by the World Bank. [ more... ]