Agricultural Policies

Paper

Improving Market Access in Agriculture. A quantitative evaluation of Blended Formulas and Possible Alternatives

World Bank (2004)

The Doha Ministerial Declaration of the WTO (2001) set out an objective of achieving substantial improvements in agricultural market access, while providing special and differential treatment for developing countries. As has since become clear, this goal is not easy to achieve in an organization of 147 members seeking to reach consensus. While any agreement seeking a substantial increase in market access must involve increases in disciplines, a fundamental requirement for success in any multilateral trade negotiation is finding a balance between such discipline and the flexibility needed to accommodate the differing needs of members. Because countries have very different interests, and all major decisions at the World Trade Organization must be made by consensus, any agreement must have the flexibility needed to address the specific needs of each member. At the same time, agreements must impose some discipline on members if they are to have their desired effect of reducing barriers to countries’ exports. The purpose of this paper is to explore the implications of current tariff-cutting proposals, and plausible alternatives that might be used to replace them. To perform the analysis, we prepared a database on bound tariffs (WTO commitments) and applied tariffs for over 100 countries. We first examine the pattern of protection for insights into the nature of distortions, and the potential consequences of reform. Then, we examine the consequences of tariff-cutting rules such as those in Appendix B of the Derbez Draft (WTO 2003a).

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