Reforming agricultural trade among developing countries

It is commonly perceived that much of the initiative for removal ofdistortions in trade in agriculture has to come from the developed world. Thisgeneralization is not valid across all agricultural products, in particular fortropical products that are predominantly produced in developing countries andconstitute a large share of their exports. It emerges that export of most of theseproducts suffers not because of barriers in advanced countries, but from thosein the developing world. This implies reciprocal benefits from growth incounter-trade if developing countries agree on more stringent trade liberalizationmeasures for them. Cotton, sugar and bananas are important exceptions; theyface trade barriers in some developed economies, so they deserve specificattention of trade negotiators