Featured publications
Trade, food security, and nutrition in Bhutan
06/08/2026
The brief forms part of the Bhutan country case study conducted under the FAO initiative “Trade and Sustainable Agrifood Systems”, funded by the Swiss...
No. 59 Advancing women’s participation in agrifood trade through inclusive policies
27/03/2026
Agrifood trade presents significant potential to enhance women’s economic participation and support broader development outcomes, particularly in low-...
No. 60 The WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies: FAO’s support to Members in its implementation
27/03/2026
The entry into force of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies represents a major development in global efforts to align trade policy with sustainable...
No. 61 The dynamic impact of global shipping costs on the food import bill
27/03/2026
Maritime transportation is essential for countries to access basic goods in global markets and to support food security and nutrition, as almost one-quarter...
Publications
No. 13 Global impacts of agricultural trade reforms. Why users need to be more vigilant when interpreting quantitative estimate
04/01/2014
There has been a recent proliferation of simulation modelling exercises attempting to quantify the potential economic gains from further liberalization of agricultural trade, and in doing so, seeking to inform the current Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations. This paper seeks to contribute to a better appreciation of what the results of simulation models actually mean, and the extent to which they can be used to inform debates relating to trade policy reform
No. 9 A special safeguard mechanism for developing countries
06/09/2005
The July 2004 WTO Framework Agreement foresees a Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM), to protect against depressed import prices and import surges for agricultural products, that is available to all developing countries. The SSM would in principle be applicable to all products. However, limits on the number of products for which a country can simultaneously apply additional duty under the SSM could be applied to prevent abuse
No. 7 Non-reciprocal agricultural trade preferences
05/07/2005
Access for developing country exports to developed country markets on preferential terms has been a long standing component of multilateral trading arrangements.
No. 1 Cotton: impact of support policies on developing countries - why do the numbers vary?
15/07/2003
Subsidies maintain cotton production at otherwise unprofitable levels in industrialized countries Excess supply induced by domestic subsidies has a depressing effect on the world market price Subsidy reductions will reduce poverty in developing producing countries Estimates of the magnitude of the impact of subsidies on the global pattern of cotton production, world market prices and cotton trade vary due to the range of assumptions used by different studies