Agricultural Policy Reform in the WTO--The Road Ahead

by Mary E. Burfisher

Agricultural trade barriers and producer subsidies inflict real costs, both on the countries that use these policies and on their trade partners. This report quantifies the costs of global agricultural distortions and the potential benefits of their full elimination. The report concludes that eliminating global agricultural policy distortions would result in an annual world welfare gain of $56 billion. The report also analyzes the effects on U.S. and world agriculture if only partial reform is achieved in liberalizing tariffs, tariff-rate quotas (limits on imported goods), domestic support, and export subsidies.

Keywords: agricultural trade, trade barriers, tariff-rate quotas, export subsidies, domestic support, aggregate measure of support, World Trade Organization, developing countries, trade policy

In this publication...

• Entire Report
• Summary
• Overview
• Chapter 1: A Global Analysis of Agricultural Reform in WTO Member Countries
• Chapter 2: Options for Reducing Agricultural Tariffs
• Box: The Economics of Animal Welfare Issues
• Chapter 3: Liberalizing Tariff-Rate Quotas
• Chapter 4: Options for Reducing the Aggregate Measurement of Support in OECD Countries
• Box: Multifunctionality: Options for Agricultural Reform
• Chapter 5: Effects of Eliminating EU Export Subsidies
• Chapter 6: Impacts of Agricultural Policy Reform on Low-Income Countries
• Appendix 1: Data on Tariffs, TRQs, and Export Subsidies
• Appendix 2: Measuring Agricultural Policies
• Appendix 3: Model Documentation
• Glossary
• Recommended Readings
• Box: Environmental Issues in a Trade Context
• Box: Welfare Implications of Liberalizing Preferential Quotas