The implications of the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture for developing countries

Prepared by

Stephen Healy
Richard Pearce
Michael Stockbridge

for the

Agricultural Policy Support Service
Policy Assistance Division

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Rome, 1998

TRAINING MATERIALS FOR AGRICULTURAL PLANNING 41

Table of contents

All rights reserved. Reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product for educational or other non-commercial purposes are authorized without any prior written permission from the copyright holders provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of material in this information product for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without written permission of the copyright holders. Applications for such permission should be addressed to the Chief, Publishing Management Service, Information Division, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy or by e-mail to [email protected]

� FAO 1998

1.1.1 Objectives and principles of the GATT
1.1.2 Achievements prior to the Uruguay Round
1.1.3 The exclusion of agriculture from the GATT
1.1.4 Protectionism and international tension over agricultural trade
1.1.5 Reasons for inclusion of agriculture within the GATT framework
1.1.6 The effect of protectionism on producers in developing countries

1.2.1 The major actors and interests in the agricultural negotiations
1.2.2 The opening negotiating potisions
1.2.3 Slow initial progress in the negotiations
1.2.4 The Dunkel Draft and CAP reform: Paving the way to an agreement
1.2.5 The Blair House Accord

2.1.1 Market acess restrictions: Protecting producers from international competition
2.1.2 Domestic support policies: Their effect on production and trade
2.1.3 Export subsidies: Disposing of surpluses on the world market

2.2.1 The country schedules
2.2.2 Market access
2.2.3 Domestic support commitments
2.2.4 Export subsidy commitments

3.2.1 Tariffication and tariff reduction
3.2.2 Minimum access commitments
3.2.3 Special treatment
3.2.4 Special safeguards provisions
3.2.5 Market access commitments: Implementation issues and policy implications

3.3.1 Developing country exemptions
3.3.2 Exemptions from AMS commitments: "Green Box" Policies
3.3.3 Other exemptions from AMS calculations
3.3.4 Calculating the total AMS
3.3.5 Domestic support commitments: Implementation issues and policy implications

3.4.1 Export subsidy commitments
3.4.2 Developing country exemptions
3.4.3 Reduction commitments
3.4.4 Export restraints

4.1.1 Market access: Tarrification, tariff cuts and bindings
4.1.2 Domestic support reductions
4.1.3 Export competition

4.2.1 The general impact
4.2.2 The impact on the Least Developed Countries

4.3.1 Overview of the agricultural trading environment after the UR
4.3.2 The general impact
4.3.3 The regional impact
4.3.4 The impact on agricultural commodities

5.1.1 Domestic policy and the agreement commitments
5.1.2 Economic reform programmes and the structural adjustment framework

5.2.1 The domestic policy options
5.2.2 AMS issues
5.2.3 The de minimis implications
5.2.4 The implications for specific policy instruments
5.2.5 Consumption policy options
5.2.6 Domestic market stability

5.3.1 The trade policy environment in developing countries

6.2.1 Influencing the foreign exchange earning capacity
6.2.2 Influencing the price of food imports and market stability
6.2.3 Influencing the availability of food assistance

7.1.1 The rationale for RTAs
7.1.2 RTAs and agricultural trade

7.2.1 The MFN principle and RTAs
7.2.2 Article XXIV of GATT 1947
7.2.3 The Uruguay Round Understanding on RTAs