Countries No. 12. Insights on rice, poultry and sugar imports into Côte d'Ivoire
In Côte d'Ivoire import surges were related mainly to the process of trade reforms and domestic market liberalization. Annual import data reveal that import surges have been relatively frequent for poultry and rice but less so for sugar. [ more... ]

Countries No. 11. The extent and impact of import surges in Honduras: the case of rice
In Honduras over the period 1991 to 2005 two different import surges occurred. The first one was short lived, one year in 1991. [ more... ]

Countries No. 10. Mozambique: poultry meat
Mozambique customs statistics, only available in value terms, indicate that poultry meat imports rose suddenly over the 2001-2004 period, from less than one million to over five million US dollars by 2005. [ more... ]

Countries No. 9. Philippines:onions and tobacco
The Safeguard Measures Act of the Philippines in 2000 enables the Government to implement safeguard provisions under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Agriculture (AoA). [ more... ]

Countries No. 8. Sri Lanka - dairy products
Consumption of dairy products in Sri Lanka has increased over the last two decades. However, the growth in demand has been largely met by imports, particularly of milk powder. [ more... ]

Countries No. 7. Kenya: dry milk powder, sugar, maize
Import surges of three agricultural commodities - dry milk powder, sugar, and maize - were raised as a serious issue by stakeholders after the mid-1990s. The surges coincided with liberalization of trade policies in Kenya. [ more... ]

Countries No. 6. Jamaica: poultry, dairy products and onions
As with most developing countries, Jamaica lacks analytical capacity to assess how the pace of trade liberalization can affect its domestic industries. Three different case studies in Jamaica demonstrate that under these circumstances, lobbying and constructive engagement of the industry in the development of trade policy can play a fundamental role in balancing the growth of domestic industries and imports. [ more... ]

Countries No. 5. Ghana: rice, poultry and tomato paste
Import surges for rice, poultry and tomato paste were documented in Ghana over the period 1998 to 2004, with formula-based volume triggers breached in one or more incidences for each of the commodities. [ more... ]

Countries No. 4. Cameroon: poultry, rice and vegetable oils
The major impact of the trade reforms implemented by the Cameroon Government in the framework of its Structural Adjustment Polices (SAP), after the devaluation of the CFA franc in 1994 was a significant simplification of the fiscal system. [ more... ]

Countries No. 3. Mozambique: vegetable oils
Mozambique lacks analytical capacity and organizational structure to monitor international trade and assess the impacts of trade liberalization on domestic sub-sectors. [ more... ]

Countries No. 2. Malawi: maize, sugar and dairy products
Following trade liberalization, both imports and exports in Malawi have been increasing since the late 1980s. In the case of maize, sugar, and milk, there were 10, 8, and 5 cases of import surges which deviated by more than 30 percent deviation from a three-year moving average. [ more... ]

Countries No 1. United Republic of Tanzania: rice, maize and dairy products
Annual import data reveal a doubling in rice and dairy imports during the period 1997 to 2004. [ more... ]

Issues No. 6: Injury: Issues and identification
Many developing countries are constrained in their efforts to identify and document injury due to severe shortcomings in their institutional arrangements, which include the designation of appropriate authorities to both identify and analyse injury impacts of surges. [ more... ]

Issues No. 5. Institutional requirements for the implementation of a Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM)
In the Doha Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations, one of the proposals put forward to help developing countries respond to disruptive import surges is that of a Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM). [ more... ]

Issues No. 4. Import Surges: What are the contributing domestic factors?
Surges in imports are often thought of as being caused primarily by factors outside national boundaries, including those deriving from various types of unfair trade practices. (However, case studies and detailed analysis indicate that some of the factors operating within countries may be far more important and widespread in determining the onset of import surges. In order to ensure appropriate policy responses, developing countries need to carefully assess whether factors operating within the domestic market, rather than external factors, are responsible for surges in imports. [ more... ]

Issues No. 3. Import Surges: What are their external causes?
Agricultural import surges in developing countries are usually attributed to external factors, including export subsidies and highly concessional export credits from high income countries, disruptive surplus disposal in the form of food aid shipments, and price supports leading to the accumulation of surpluses that weigh on world market prices and unfair trade practices. [ more... ]

Issues No. 2. Import surges: What is their frequency and which are the countries and commodities most affected?
Import surges are increasingly of concern to developing countries, but there is some uncertainty about their extent owing in part to lack of a unique definition of the phenomenon and also due to insufficient understanding of their impacts. [ more... ]

Issues No. 1. Import surges: What are they and how can they be identified?
The problems of assessing and measuring import surges are extensive because agricultural trade is subject to inherent variability owing to the effects of weather. [ more... ]

Commodities No. 3. Import Surges in Developing Countries: the Case of Dairy Products
International dairy markets have been heavily distorted by government interventions, including domestic supports which have favoured the growth of structural surpluses. [ more... ]

Commodities No. 2. Import Surges in Developing Countries: the Case of Rice.
Some developing regions and countries are more prone to experiencing rice import surges. Rice import surges are most prevalent in Africa, the Near East and Central America and the Caribbean. [ more... ]

Commodities No. 1. Import surges in developing countries: the case of poultry
The steady decline in the cost of chicken products over the past 10 years as a result of developments in production, processing and transport technology as well as strong consumer acceptance of diverse poultry products cuts, has prompted trade gains which have exceeded those of most other agricultural commodities. [ more... ]