Harvesting Public Policy? Private Influence on Agricultural Trade Policy in Canada

Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade,

Global Food Production under Alternative Scenarios

global food production, agriculture trade liberalisation, climate policy, EU agricultural subsidies, economic recession, Agribusiness, Q17, Q18, Q54,

U.S. Food Aid: It’s Not Your Parents’ Program Any More!

Much has changed in the 50 years since modern food aid began with the enactment of U.S. Public Law 480 in 1954. Yet contemporary policy debates often become derailed by failures to appreciate the significant changes that have already occurred. This paper identifies the most important of these changes and explains how these set the stage for further desirable changes to U.S. food aid programs.food security, humanitarian assistance, hunger, poverty, safety nets, surplus disposal, trade promotion, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Relations/Trade,

BUSINESS SYSTEMS FOR INCREASED COMPETITIVENESS IN THE AGRIBUSINESS SECTOR OF SOUTH AFRICA

Agribusiness,

04-02 "The Paradox of Agricultural Subsidies: Measurement Issues, Agricultural Dumping, and Policy Reform"

World trade talks have foundered recently, in part due to developing country demands that industrialized countries reduce their large farm support programs to allow poor farmers in the global South to compete more fairly. Claiming that Northern farm subsidies amount to over $1 billion a day, and that the average European cow receives more in subsidies than the nearly three billion people who live on less than two dollars a day, Southern governments, farmer groups, and international aid groups have demanded steep cuts in Northern agricultural subsidies. This paper examines the economic and policy aspects of the subsidy debate. We begin with an examination of the most widely used measure of agricultural support, the OECD’s Producer Support Estimate. We identify several important flaws in its application and interpretation as a reliable subsidy measure, highlighting the particular problems this can cause in measuring the levels of farm support in developing countries whose economies may not be fully integrated with the world economy. We then review the results of economic modeling of trade liberalization and subsidy reduction, finding that overall such measures are unlikely to raise producer prices to a sufficient degree to bring relief from alleged agricultural dumping to Southern farmers by bringing export prices above production costs. We briefly examine one alternative explanation for low commodity prices, the oligopolistic nature of agricultural trade. We conclude with an outline for policy reforms at the global and national levels to address measurement flaws, raise commodity prices, and reduce the undercutting of developing country farmers by below-cost agricultural exports from the North. Throughout, we draw on US-Mexico trade in maize as an illustrative case study. We conclude that subsidy reduction is unlikely to reduce economic pressures on Mexican maize producers from below-cost US exports, nor are such measures likely to improve the economic prospects for similar small-scale farmers growing food primarily for subsistence and the internal market. Instead, policy reforms should focus on ending agricultural dumping, reducing global commodity overproduction in key crops, and reducing the market power of agribusiness conglomerates.

Determinants of U.S. Textile and Apparel Trade

A gravity model using panel data is applied to determine factors affecting textiles and apparel trade flows into the United States. The study confirms that a nation's aggregate output and per unit productivity serve as important determinants of textiles and apparel trade into the U.S., and the exporting country's depreciating exchange rate as well as its lower prices relative to U.S. prices for textiles and apparel play an important role in determining textiles and apparel trade flows to the U.S. market. Since the WTO's multilateral trade restraining policies of the multi-fibre arrangement (MFA) is found to have slowed down imports, its abrogation in 2005 should lead to greater textiles and apparel imports to the U.S.brand equity, brand valuation, real options, food firms, growth option value, Agribusiness, International Relations/Trade,

Examining AWB’s market power in the international wheat market

The Australian wheat marketing system has been through a number of stages of deregulation in recent years. However, the AWB still maintains the monopoly selling rights of Australian wheat exports. The AWB and its supporters justify the single desk by arguing that the monopoly power enables them to gain a higher price in the export markets. Opposition to the single desk argues that Australia does not produce enough wheat to influence prices. The objective of this study is to test the market power hypothesis by examining the quantity - price relationship of Australian wheat exports and the stability of this relationship over time using annual data from 1961 to 2000.AWB, single desk, wheat marketing, national competition policy, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries,

Major Issues and Challenges for Improving the Marketing and Distribution of Agricultural Products

No Abstract Availabl

Trade liberalization, market reforms and competitiveness of Indian dairy sector

From chronic shortages of milk, India has emerged today as the largest producer of milk in the world crossing 80 million tonnes. This has been achieved largely through a smallholder economy in which "Operation Flood", one of the world's largest dairy development programmes, played an important role. All this happened largely under autarkic framework and regulated public policy dictated by import-substitution strategy. Until 1991, the Indian dairy industry was highly regulated and protected through quantitative restrictions (QRs) and stringent licensing provisions. Since early 1990s, India embarked upon liberal policy framework, which got reinforced with the signing of Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture (URAA) in 1994. This opening-up increasingly exposed the Indian dairy sector to the global markets, which in-turn are distorted by export subsidies, domestic support and prohibitive tariffs in developed countries. This raises several issues: Will the Indian dairy sector survive in the new brave world of liberalization? What are the options for India in the coming rounds of multilateral trade negotiations, given scores of distortions that plague the world dairy markets? What sort of domestic reforms are required in the Indian dairy sector that could promote its competitiveness in a fast globalizing world? This study responds to these issues by empirically mapping the competitiveness of Indian dairy sector over the period 1975-2000 and delineating policy options for international negotiations and more importantly, domestic policy reforms, given India's commitments to the WTO.World Trade Organization ,trade liberalization ,Dairy products industry ,livestock ,