Scope for Doha to reduce discrimination in agricultural markets
Date
2007
Authors
Anderson, Kym
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of New South Wales, Faculty of Law
Abstract
The vast majority of the world’s poorest households depend on farming for
their livelihood, as would many of the rest had prospects in agriculture not been
so bleak as to force them into non-farm activities in search of a higher income.
Earnings from farming have been depressed in low-income countries partly
because own-country policies typically have had a pro-urban, anti-agricultural
bias, and partly because richer countries (including some developing countries)
assist and protect their farmers with import barriers and subsidies. Numerous
developing country governments have made considerable progress over the past
two decades in reducing their own sectoral and trade policy distortions, and many
of them now believe high income countries should reduce their remaining
protectionism that harms developing country exports of farm (and textile)
products. Indeed one of the key difficulties in the World Trade Organization’s
(‘WTO’)1 current round of multilateral trade negotiations (known as the ‘Doha
Development Agenda’) is the fact that developing countries are calling for such
commitments on farm policies before they will consider offering any further
reform commitments of their own.
Description
Keywords
farming, livelihood, agriculture, low-income, depressed, developing countries, pro-urban, anti-agricultural, trade, policy, distortions, protectionism, Doha Development Agenda, multilateral trade negotiations
Citation
Collections
Source
UNSW Law Journal
Type
Journal article
Book Title
Entity type
Access Statement
Open Access