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The role of the WTO in achieving equity and efficiency in international markets for agricultural products

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 September 2005

DONALD MACLAREN
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, The University of Melbourne

Abstract

The fundamental objective of the negotiations on agriculture that are taking place in the Doha Round is to establish a new set of rules, which will correct current distortions and prevent future distortions in international markets for agricultural products while taking into account non-trade concerns and special and differential treatment. A summary of the chronology of the very slow progress to date in the negotiations is provided. This rate of progress is explained through considering the weights the different groups of governments are giving to removing trade distortions, on the one hand, and to non-trade concerns and special and differential treatment, on the other. Some results from the economic theory of distortions and welfare are used to explain the conditions under which the twin pursuits of non-trade concerns domestically and fairness internationally are compatible. These results are contrasted with the realities of the current negotiations on the agriculture component of the ‘July 2004 package’.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2005 Donald MacLaren

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Footnotes

A revised and updated version of a paper presented at the Symposium organized by The Institute for International Business, Economics and Law, University of Adelaide and The Sydney Centre for International and Global Law, University of Sydney, ‘Why have a World Trade Organization? Focussing on the Welfare Effects of the Law of the WTO’, The National Wine Centre, Adelaide, 25 February 2004.