This is a panel on agricultural trade; but it is not just a trade law panel. As has been clearly recognized in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are “integrated and indivisible.” Lawyers, too, are called upon to look at these complex issues through an integrated lens. Accordingly, although this panel will examine SDG #2 through the lens of trade, we will attempt to do so using an integrated and holistic perspective. After providing the contextual background, the panel will consider first, the role of export subsidies and the importance of their elimination and secondly, the broader implications of trade for food security and the actualization of SDG #2.

The title of this manuscript might astonish readers, but it will certainly not mislead them, for this is indeed a serious and involved magnum opus of considerable length on a topic of considerable complexity. It was painstakingly researched and carefully written by Gordon W. Smith over a period of about thirty years. Recognizing the value of what was largely this man’s life’s work, his executors have undertaken to realize the dream that was behind the manuscript, namely, to enable its availability for the beneWt of all Canadians, particularly those interested in history and international law as these subjects pertain to the Arctic. The original handwritten manuscript, which numbers several thousand pages of text, has been preserved in accordance with archival standards. The content has been reproduced in electronic format on CD ROM and amounts to over two million words. The executors hope to release this valuable and important piece of work for publication.