International Trade Policy: The WTO Agenda for Agriculture

We are on the brink of yet another series of multilateral trade negotiations. Agriculture is likely once again to be both a central topic for discussion and a major cause of contention. This paper attempts to look forward to the talks on agriculture. In the first section of the paper, the case is made for embarking on what many consider a risky venture, the further liberalization of agricultural markets. Then the climate in which the talks will take place is compared to that of the Uruguay Round in 1986. A third section of the paper outlines the broad strategy that is likely to be adopted by countries in the negotiations, and this is followed by a section that explores the ways in which the negotiations could be conducted. A final section raises the issue of timing and procedures.1 There is good reason to believe that the next round of trade talks could take the world a significant step toward global free trade. Although most such optimistic statements are premised on the full recovery of the Asian economies, the signs are in general more favorable than in the years before the Uruguay Round. The multilateral trade system is in much better shape than in the mid 1980s, when serious disagreements existed as to whether even to hold a new round of trade negotiations. For one thing the existence of the WTO gives the trade system the legitimac