CONVERGENCE, HARMONIZATION, AND COMPATIBILITY UNDER NAFTA: A 2003 STATUS REPORT

In the 2001 Workshop the authors developed and applied a taxonomy and framework for assessing the status of agricultural and food policies in each of the NAFTA countries (Knutson, Loyns and Ochoa, 2002). It divided the policies into the following areas: -Facilitate growth and progress. Regulation. Market intervention. For each area the paper identified the major points of conflict that existed in 2001 at the time the paper was written and the requirements for harmonization. The major areas of conflict included; -Facilitate growth and progress: particularly grades and standards in grains (US-CA) and beef (US-CA); trade policy in dairy (US-CA), sugar (US-MX), poultry (US-MX), and wheat (US-CA); infrastructure policies (border conflicts US-MX). Regulation: particularly plant and animal protection (US-MX), food safety (US-MX), pesticides (US-CA-MX). Market interventions: particularly disaster assistance (US-CA-MX), price supports and safety nets (US-CA-MX), and supply management and state trading. The purpose of this paper is to update that paper and to draw conclusions as to whether progress has been made since 2001 has been positive, negative, or neutral in each of these areas of conflict for policy/program convergence, harmonization, and compatibility. The 2001 policies, therefore, can be looked upon as a policy baseline point of reference for comparison in 2003. Many of the policy changes were embodied in the precipitated by the US 2002 farm bill. However, care was taken to review each of the policy/program areas covered in the 2001 taxonomy to identify changes in the level of conflict.International Relations/Trade,

CATTLE/BEEF SUBSECTOR'S STRUCTURE AND COMPETITION UNDER FREE TRADE

Industrial Organization, International Relations/Trade,

Infrastructure and FDI Inflows Into Mexico: A Panel Data Approach

In December 1993, restrictions to foreign ownership across major Mexican economic sectors were abolished. This paper studies output, industrialization intensity, \ international infrastructure\ , and government expenditures on infrastructure as determinants of FDI inflows into Mexican states over 1994-2001. We conduct a \ general to specific\ estimation strategy across Mexican states. Telephone lines appear to be very important to FDI as their coefficients are around 2.0 in Random Effects Models. Industrialization is also important, with coefficients varying from 0.62 to 0.67. Allowing for endogeneity between FDI and real output, dynamic GMM panels confirm the robust effects of telephone lines on FDI. International infrastructure thus appears more conducive to FDI than domestic infrastructure, such as interstate and secondary roads. With international infrastructure being a major catalyst of FDI inflows into Mexico, we provide support to ongoing conventional wisdom promoting such type of investment

Policy Goals and the Design of Farm Programs: An Evaluation of FAIR

Evaluating the performance of our current farm programs initially requires a specification of policy goals. In performing this exercise, we conclude that the goals have changed, much like the policies have changed. We then evaluate whether the current set of policies will fulfill the goals in a politically acceptable manner. It is concluded that this is questionable, at least in the short run. Moreover, it is concluded that, regardless of what is done in policy terms, the farm structure will continue to undergo dramatic change. Policies will affect the rate of change in structure, but not the direction which will continue toward fewer but larger integrated farms.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Modelamiento de zonas de inundación por medio de las herramientas HEC-RAS, GEO-RAS y ARCGIS, para el sector comprendido entre los municipios de Corrales - Paz del Rio a lo largo del Río Chicamocha, en el departamento de Boyacá

144 páginas : ilustraciones color, fotografías, figuras, tablas.Este estudio, se focaliza sobre el fenómeno de las inundaciones, el cual ha sido recurrente, debido a altas precipitaciones como factor detonante.Los fenómenos climáticos son un factor principal en la modelación y continua transformación de la superficie terrestre, estos dependiendo de cada región afectan de manera diferente y traen consecuencias nefastas en el desarrollo de una localidad según su intensidad y duración. Las inundaciones son unos de los riesgos naturales que producen mayor número de pérdidas tanto humanas como materiales.Bibliografía: página 144PregradoIngeniero Geólog

Representative Farms Economic Outlook for the January 2001 FAPRI/AFPC Baseline

The farm level economic impacts of projected long term prices under the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (FAIR) on representative crop and livestock operations are projected in this report. For this report the FAIR Act will be referred to as the 1996 Farm Bill. The analysis was conducted over the 1996-2005 planning horizon using FLIPSIM, AFPC’s whole farm simulation model. Data to simulate farming operations in the nation’s major production regions came from two sources: - Producer panel cooperation to develop economic information to describe and simulate representative crop, livestock, and dairy farms. - Projected prices, policy variables, and input inflation rates from the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) January 2001 Baseline. The primary objective of the analysis is to determine the farms’ economic viability by region and commodity throughout the life of the 1996 Farm Bill and beyond.Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries,

SE 03. Financial projections for the evaluation of technological alternatives in the Mexican dual purpose production system

The overall objective of this work was to perform an economic analysis of technological alternatives for the dual purpose production systems under Mexico’s tropical conditions. This production unit was based on grazing 100 ha of improved species of grass and supplemented with Napier grass and corn silage during the dry season. Two alternative scenarios were analyzed: 1) the use of BST and 2) the purchase of a milk cooling tank. A farm level, income and policy simulation model (FLIPSIM), developed at Texas A&M University was used to analyze the production and financial conditions of the production unit over a six year planning horizon (1995-2000). The results indicate that to pay for the use of BST, on average, the milking herd should increase milk production by 21.38 % for the first year in the planning horizon. As inflation decreases and financial conditions improve over time, smaller increments in milk production would be necessary to pay for the hormone. The initial investment necessary for the purchase and associated facilities for a milk cooling tank and operation costs associated to cooling the milk required the net income to increase to US$12,500 over the baseline during the first year for the farm to break-even. The more dramatic effect is realized in the first year because of the 20$ 4,000 to US$5,700 over the rest of the planning horizon. The effect of this on the unitary BE milk price is a difference of US$ 0.046 /liter of milk in the first year and a range of US$ 0.015 - 0.0213 /liter of milk over the rest of the planning horizon

Therapeutic potential of the novel hybrid molecule JM-20 against focal cortical ischemia in rats

Context: Despite the great mortality and morbidity of stroke, treatment options remain limited. We previously showed that JM-20, a novel synthetic molecule, possessed a strong neuroprotective effect in rats subjected to transient middle cerebral artery occlusion. However, to verify the robustness of the pre-clinical neuroprotective effects of JM-20 to get good prognosis in the translation to the clinic, it is necessary to use other experimental models of brain ischemia. Aims: To evaluate the neuroprotective effects of JM-20 following the onset of permanent focal cerebral ischemia induced in rats by thermocoagulation of blood into pial blood vessels of cerebral cortices. Methods: Ischemic lesion was induced by thermocoagulation of blood into pial blood vessels of primary motor and somatosensory cortices. Behavioral performance was evaluated by the cylinder testing for a period of 2, 3 and 7 days after surgery, and was followed by histopathological study in brain cortex stained with hematoxylin- eosin. Results: Ischemic injury resulted in impaired function of the forelimb evidenced by high asymmetry punctuation, and caused histopathological alterations indicative of tissue damage at cerebral cortex. JM-20 treatment (4 and 8 mg/kg) significantly decreased asymmetry scores and histological alterations with a marked preservation of cortical neurons. Conclusions: The effects of permanent brain ischemia were strongly attenuated by JM-20 administration, which expands and improves the current preclinical data of JM-20 as neuroprotector against cerebral ischemia, and strongly support the examination of its translation to the clinic to treat acute ischemic stroke

City of Hitchcock Comprehensive Plan 2020-2040

Hitchcock is a small town located in Galveston County (Figure 1.1), nestled up on the Texas Gulf Coast. It lies about 40 miles south-east of Houston. The boundaries of the city encloses an area of land of 60.46 sq. miles, an area of water of 31.64 sq. miles at an elevation just 16 feet above sea level. Hitchcock has more undeveloped land (~90% of total area) than the county combined. Its strategic location gives it a driving force of opportunities in the Houston-Galveston Region.The guiding principles for this planning process were Hitchcock’s vision statement and its corresponding goals, which were crafted by the task force. The goals focus on factors of growth and development including public participation, development considerations, transportation, community facilities, economic development, parks, and housing and social vulnerabilityTexas Target Communitie