The Uruguay Round Agreements and FAO

WHAT THE URUGUAY ROUND ACHIEVED FOR AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES

The Uruguay Round has been described as a turning point in the evolution of agricultural policy. For the first time ever, a large majority of countries agreed a set of principles and disciplines that will help to harmonize both national and international agricultural policies in the future.

The Uruguay Round achievement is contained in a series of agreements and ministerial decisions and declarations annexed to the Marrakesh Agreement, which established the World Trade Organization (WTO). The annexes
include the:

Multilateral Agreements on Trade in Goods;
General Agreement on Trade in Services;
Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights;
Plurilateral Trade Agreements; and
Ministerial Decisions and Declarations.

The Multilateral Agreements on Trade in Goods include 13 individual agreements, three of which have particular relevance to FAO's technical activities.

They are the:

Agreement on Agriculture;
Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures; and
Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade.

FAO's technical activities also have relevance to the:

Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights; and
Decision on Measures Concerning the Possible Negative Effects of the Reform Programme on Least-Developed and Net Food-Importing Developing Countries.

Agreement on Agriculture (AoA)

The Agreement on Agriculture is of great significance, as it has brought agriculture into the mainstream of international trade rules.

The three main provisions of the Agreement are aimed at:

improving market access;
reducing domestic support; and
reducing export subsidies.

In all three areas the main thrust is to remove past production- and trade-distorting practices and to facilitate a fair and market-oriented agricultural trading system.

A number of agricultural commodities (e.g. rubber) as well as fish and fish products and forest products were not covered by this Agreement.

Decision on Measures Concerning the Possible Negative Effects of the Reform
Programme on Least-Developed and Net Food-Importing Developing Countries

Ministers of countries taking part in the Uruguay Round recognized that the overall results would generate increasing opportunities for trade expansion and economic growth for all participants. They also recognized that, during the reform programme leading to the liberalization of agriculture, the least-developed and net food-importing developing countries might experience negative effects with respect to the availability of adequate supplies of basic foodstuffs from external suppliers on reasonable terms.

The Ministers agreed to establish appropriate mechanisms to ensure that the implementation of the Uruguay Round in the area of trade in agriculture would not prevent food aid being available at a level sufficient to assist in meeting the food needs of developing countries, especially the least-developed and net food-importing developing countries. To this end, the Ministers agreed to review the level of food aid under the Food Aid Convention; to ensure that an increasing proportion of basic foodstuffs is given to affected countries in fully grant form and/or on appropriate concessional terms; and, in the context of their countries' aid programmes, to give full consideration to requests for the provision of technical and financial assistance to least-developed and net food-importing developing countries so as to improve their agricultural productivity and infrastructure. This last point is of particular relevance to FAO's technical assistance programme.

Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS)

The SPS Agreement concerns the application of measures associated with the protection of human, animal and plant health in such a way that they are not a disguised restriction on international trade. This Agreement has particular relevance to plant and animal quarantine measures and to measures taken to ensure food safety.

Trade in agricultural, forest and fishery products

Trade flow	1970	1980	1990	1995
World exports (US$ billion)	66.7	306.4	462.4	623.8
Exports by developing countries (US$ billion)	21.9	88.3	119.7	174.1
Developing countries' share of world exports (%)	32	29	26	28

Source: FAO.

It recognizes that governments have the right to adopt sanitary and phytosanitary measures but that they should be applied only to the extent necessary to achieve the required level of protection. Governments should not discriminate between members without sufficient scientific evidence, or arbitrarily when identical or similar conditions prevail.

The SPS Agreement encourages countries to adopt international standards.

Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)

The TBT Agreement seeks to ensure that technical regulations and standards, including packaging, marking and labelling requirements, and procedures for assessing conformity with technical regulations and standards do not create unnecessary obstacles to international trade.

It recognizes that a country has the right to take necessary measures, at a level it considers appropriate, to ensure the quality of its exports; the protection of human health or safety, animal or plant life or health and the environment; and to prevent deceptive practices. A country may also take the necessary steps to ensure that those levels of protection are met, as long as the measures, or action taken to implement them, do not create unnecessary obstacles to international trade.

The provisions of the TBT Agreement do not apply to sanitary and phytosanitary measures subject to the SPS Agreement, which includes measures to protect human, animal and plant life or health from pests and diseases and food-borne health hazards.

The TBT Agreement encourages countries to adopt international standards.

Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)

The TRIPS Agreement recognizes that widely varying national standards in the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights and the lack of a multilateral framework of principles, rules and disciplines dealing with international trade in counterfeit goods have been a growing source of tension in international trade relations.

Accordingly, it encompasses relevant international intellectual property agreements, provides for adequate intellectual property rights and includes effective enforcement measures to protect those rights.

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