AGRICULTURE IN THE WTO: A EUROPEAN UNION PERSPECTIVE

International Relations/Trade,

Placing the 2006/08 commodity price boom into perspective

The 2006-08 commodity price boom was one of the longest and broadest of the post-World War II period. Apart from strong and sustained economic growth, the recent boom was fueled by numerous factors, including low past investment in extractive commodities, weak dollar, fiscal expansion, and lax monetary policy in many countries, and investment fund activity. At the same time, the combination of adverse weather conditions, the diversion of some food commodities to the production of biofuels, and government policies (including export bans and prohibitive taxes) brought global stocks of many food commodities down to levels not seen since the early 1970s. This in turn accelerated the price increases that eventually led to the 2008 rally. The weakening and/or reversal of these factors coupled with the financial crisis that erupted in September 2008 and the subsequent global economic downturn, induced sharp price declines across most commodity sectors. Yet, the main price indices are still twice as high compared to their 2000 real levels, begging once more the question about the real factors affecting them. This paper concludes that a stronger link between energy and non-energy commodity prices is likely to be the dominant influence on developments in commodity, and especially food, markets. Demand by emerging economies is unlikely to put additional pressure on the prices of food commodities. The paper also argues that the effect of biofuels on food prices has not been as large as originally thought, but that the use of commodities by financial investors (the so-called"financialization of commodities") may have been partly responsible for the 2007/08 spike. Finally, econometric analysis of the long-term evolution of commodity prices supports the thesis that price variability overwhelms price trends.Markets and Market Access,Emerging Markets,Commodities,Energy Production and Transportation,E-Business

Developments in world agricultural markets

International Relations/Trade,

THE DEMAND AND SUPPLY OF U.S. AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS: THE CASE OF WHEAT, CORN, AND SOYBEANS

The demand for and supply of U.S. wheat, corn, and soybean exports is specified in a dynamic framework. Obtained results indicate differences in the export behavior of each product. U.S. corn exports are elastic, while U.S. soybean exports exhibit an inelastic response. For wheat, the derived elasticity of export demand had a positive sign. Hypothesis testing validated the dynamic structure of the estimated models in all markets. Stability properties were confirmed in export markets of corn and soybeans, but results were inconclusive for the wheat market. Adjustment coefficients indicate that exports and export prices do no adjust immediately to their equilibrium levels. Multiplier impacts indicate a stable path of convergence for all markets, with minimal impact of exogenous shocks on wheat and corn exports and export prices. Soybean export prices exhibit a significant response to changes in domestic export capacity, but minimal response to other exogenous shocks.International Relations/Trade,

No. 4 - Agriculture and the WTO: Subsidies in the Cross Hairs

September 2003 saw trade talks pursuing the Doha Development Agenda at the Cancún WTO Ministerial Meeting collapse, primarily over the disagreements between rich and developing countries regarding agriculture. Despite the great pessimism that ensued, on August 1, 2004, WTO negotiators from 147 countries announced a breakthrough in negotiations to liberalize trade in agricultural products. The most striking aspect of this new framework agreement is the proposed elimination of agricultural subsidies by rich countries in return for developing countries opening up their markets to more imports. At the same time, WTO dispute resolution panels have delivered stunning decisions against the U.S. cotton subsidy program and the European Union\u27s sugar subsidies. Clearly agriculture trade policy will be a pivotal issue determining the failure or success of the Doha round. This conference featured noted experts from senior levels of government, the private sector, and the legal profession addressing current developments in multilateral negotiations and the WTO cases on agriculture and analyzing their impact on the future of the world agricultural market. It was presented on November 16, 2004, at the University of Georgia School of Law by the Dean Rusk Center–International, Comparative, and Graduate Legal Studies and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

The Political Economy of the 2014-2020 Common Agricultural Policy: An Imperfect Storm. CEPS Paperback, 17 August 2015

After five years of debates, consultations and negotiations, the European institutions reached an agreement in 2013 on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the 2014-2020 period. The outcome has major implications for the EU’s budget and farmers’ incomes but also for Europe’s environment, its contribution to global climate change and to food security in the EU and in the world. It was decided to spend more than €400 billion during the rest of the decade on the CAP.The official claims are that the new CAP will take better account of society's expectations and lead to far-reaching changes by making subsidies fairer and ‘greener’ and making the CAP more efficient. It is also asserted that the CAP will play a key part in achieving the overall objective of promoting smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. However, there is significant scepticism about these claims and disappointment with the outcome of the decision-making, the first in which the European Parliament was involved under the co-decision procedure. In contrast to earlier reforms where more substantive changes were made to the CAP, the factors that induced the policy discussions in 2008-13 and those that influenced the decision-making did not reinforce each other. On the contrary, they sometimes counteracted one another, yielding an ‘imperfect storm’ as it were, resulting in more status quo and fewer changes. This book discusses the outcome of the decision-making and the factors that influenced the policy choices and decisions. It brings together contributions from leading academics from various disciplines and policy-makers, and key participants in the process from the European Commission and the European Parliament

Regulating Agri-Food Production in the US and the EU

There are a large number of issues that need to be clarified across the European Union (EU) and United States (US) on policies affecting agricultural production and food safety. While both the US and EU aim to meet similar objectives, their regulatory approaches often differ. The US focuses on regulating the end product, the EU has the tendency to regulate the whole production process. At some point it will be important for these regulatory processes to find some equilibrium that will satisfy consumers and regulators. Respecting and understanding current differences appears to be the only way to arrive at an equilibrium that allows the full potential of biotechnology to be utilized

EU-US AGRICULTURAL TRADE: FACTS, FEATURES AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS (PowerPoint Presentation)

PowerPoint presentatio