Structural Change and Market Opening in Agriculture: Turkey towards EU Accession

The membership negotiations of Turkey with EU may start after satisfactory developments in the Copenhagen Criteria. Agriculture is expected to be one of the toughest areas in the accession negotiations. The difficulty will not only arise from the state of agriculture in Turkey, but also from the ever changing agricultural policy framework of EU. The structural and institutional adjustment abilities of Turkey during the pre-accession period will be the determining factors to ease the accession. The purpose of this study is to identify major elements in the pre-accession period through the description of agricultural environment in Turkey, together with the possible effects of accession on agriculture. Land and labor stem as the major divergences from the EU averages, and hence will form the basis of the accession negotiations. The next section is devoted to the structure of the basic factors of production in agriculture and to a general overview of agricultural production. The recent policy shifts and the costs and benefits of the agricultural policies are provided in the second section. The recent developments in the trade between EU and Turkey and the trade potential are presented in the third section. The last section is reserved for the concluding remarks.Turkey, European Union, agriculture

trade implications of extending the turkey-eu customs union agreement to agricultural products

Turkey’s membership of EU will lead to the enlargement of already established customs union between EU and Turkey for the agricultural products. This involves not only a full liberalization of agricultural trade within the EU but also the implementation of a Common external tariff. In this new situation, trade diversion and creation effects for agro-food trade will emerge. In terms of article XXIV of GATT, the possible results of these counteracting effects are important. In this paper, using the Armington assumption, the trade diversion and creation effects of Turkey’s membership for the agricultural trade will be calculated and analyzed.Elasticities of Substitution, Armington Elasticities, Fixed Effect Panel, Random Effect Panel, Trade Creation, Trade Diversion, EU Membership of Turkey, Agricultural Products, Turkey, Article XXIV of GATT, Turkish Agricultural Sector Model, TAGRIS

MACRO-MICRO FEEDBACK LINKS OF IRRIGATION WATER MANAGEMENT IN TURKEY

Agricultural production is heavily dependent on water availability in Turkey, where half the crop production relies on irrigation. Irrigated agriculture consumes about 75 percent of total water used, which is about 30 percent of renewable water availability. This study analyzes the likely effects of increased competition for water resources and changes in the Turkish economy. The analysis uses an economy-wide Walrasian Computable General Equilibrium model with a detailed account of the agricultural sector. The study investigated the economy-wide effects of two external shocks, namely a permanent increase in the world prices of agricultural commodities and climate change, along with the impact of the domestic reallocation of water between agricultural and non-agricultural uses. It was also recognized that because of spatial heterogeneity of the climate, the simulated scenarios have differential impact on the agricultural production and hence on the allocation of factors of production including water. The greatest effects on major macroeconomic indicators occur in the climate change simulations. As a result of the transfer of water from rural to urban areas, overall production of all crops declines. Although production on rainfed land increases, production on irrigated land declines, most notably the production of maize and fruits. The decrease in agricultural production, coupled with the domestic price increase, is further reflected in net trade. Agricultural imports increase with a greater decline in agricultural exports.Computable General Equilibrium; Feedback links; Irrigation Water; Turkey

trade implications of extending the turkey-eu customs union agreement to agricultural products

Turkey’s membership of EU will lead to the enlargement of already established customs union between EU and Turkey for the agricultural products. This involves not only a full liberalization of agricultural trade within the EU but also the implementation of a Common external tariff. In this new situation, trade diversion and creation effects for agro-food trade will emerge. In terms of article XXIV of GATT, the possible results of these counteracting effects are important. In this paper, using the Armington assumption, the trade diversion and creation effects of Turkey’s membership for the agricultural trade will be calculated and analyzed

Elective Cancer Surgery in COVID-19-Free Surgical Pathways During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: An International, Multicenter, Comparative Cohort Study.

PURPOSE: As cancer surgery restarts after the first COVID-19 wave, health care providers urgently require data to determine where elective surgery is best performed. This study aimed to determine whether COVID-19-free surgical pathways were associated with lower postoperative pulmonary complication rates compared with hospitals with no defined pathway. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This international, multicenter cohort study included patients who underwent elective surgery for 10 solid cancer types without preoperative suspicion of SARS-CoV-2. Participating hospitals included patients from local emergence of SARS-CoV-2 until April 19, 2020. At the time of surgery, hospitals were defined as having a COVID-19-free surgical pathway (complete segregation of the operating theater, critical care, and inpatient ward areas) or no defined pathway (incomplete or no segregation, areas shared with patients with COVID-19). The primary outcome was 30-day postoperative pulmonary complications (pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, unexpected ventilation). RESULTS: Of 9,171 patients from 447 hospitals in 55 countries, 2,481 were operated on in COVID-19-free surgical pathways. Patients who underwent surgery within COVID-19-free surgical pathways were younger with fewer comorbidities than those in hospitals with no defined pathway but with similar proportions of major surgery. After adjustment, pulmonary complication rates were lower with COVID-19-free surgical pathways (2.2% v 4.9%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.62; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.86). This was consistent in sensitivity analyses for low-risk patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists grade 1/2), propensity score-matched models, and patients with negative SARS-CoV-2 preoperative tests. The postoperative SARS-CoV-2 infection rate was also lower in COVID-19-free surgical pathways (2.1% v 3.6%; aOR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.76). CONCLUSION: Within available resources, dedicated COVID-19-free surgical pathways should be established to provide safe elective cancer surgery during current and before future SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks

Elective cancer surgery in COVID-19-free surgical pathways during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: An international, multicenter, comparative cohort study

PURPOSE As cancer surgery restarts after the first COVID-19 wave, health care providers urgently require data to determine where elective surgery is best performed. This study aimed to determine whether COVID-19–free surgical pathways were associated with lower postoperative pulmonary complication rates compared with hospitals with no defined pathway. PATIENTS AND METHODS This international, multicenter cohort study included patients who underwent elective surgery for 10 solid cancer types without preoperative suspicion of SARS-CoV-2. Participating hospitals included patients from local emergence of SARS-CoV-2 until April 19, 2020. At the time of surgery, hospitals were defined as having a COVID-19–free surgical pathway (complete segregation of the operating theater, critical care, and inpatient ward areas) or no defined pathway (incomplete or no segregation, areas shared with patients with COVID-19). The primary outcome was 30-day postoperative pulmonary complications (pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, unexpected ventilation). RESULTS Of 9,171 patients from 447 hospitals in 55 countries, 2,481 were operated on in COVID-19–free surgical pathways. Patients who underwent surgery within COVID-19–free surgical pathways were younger with fewer comorbidities than those in hospitals with no defined pathway but with similar proportions of major surgery. After adjustment, pulmonary complication rates were lower with COVID-19–free surgical pathways (2.2% v 4.9%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.62; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.86). This was consistent in sensitivity analyses for low-risk patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists grade 1/2), propensity score–matched models, and patients with negative SARS-CoV-2 preoperative tests. The postoperative SARS-CoV-2 infection rate was also lower in COVID-19–free surgical pathways (2.1% v 3.6%; aOR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.76). CONCLUSION Within available resources, dedicated COVID-19–free surgical pathways should be established to provide safe elective cancer surgery during current and before future SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks

Outcomes from elective colorectal cancer surgery during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

This study aimed to describe the change in surgical practice and the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on mortality after surgical resection of colorectal cancer during the initial phases of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Structural Change and Market Opening in Agriculture. CEPS EU-Turkey Working Papers No. 10, 1 September 2004

Turkey is endowed with rich natural and human resources, but its agricultural sector never reached its potential because of the increasingly inefficient agricultural policies adopted since the late 1980s. However, an important reform was started in 2000-01, which has improved the incentive structure. After the reform of the CAP, EU and Turkish agricultural policies are now slowly converging. The principal remaining obstacles in Turkey will be the effective implementation of the new, EU-compatible, policy regime. Turkey has a comparative advantage in plant products that do not exhibit economies of scale and are relatively labour-intensive, i.e. fruits and vegetables Eliminating the existing border and non-tariff barriers to trade in agriculture would allow both sides to better exploit their comparative advantages. The models discussed here imply that an extension of the customs union agreement to agriculture would lead to substantial welfare benefits for both sides