Market Development Programs Help Expand U.S. High-Value Agricultural Exports

If the legislative bodies of 116 countries follow the recent U.S. congressional approval of the Uruguay Round agreement of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (CATT), agricultural export subsidies will be reduced; import access will be expanded by converting import quotas to tariffs, which would subsequently be reduced; trade-distorting production subsidies will be lowered; and sanitary and phytosanitary standards for agricultural products will be based on scientific evidence. (See also "International Trade Agreement Provides New Framework for FoodSafety Regulation," elsewhere in this issue.) Under the agreement, price subsidies will be reduced, but other types of export policies--<:redit guarantees, food aid, and nonprice market promotion-can be continued without reduction. As the European Union (EU) and other nations reduce their export subsidies to comply with the Uruguay Round agreement of the GA TT, they also may increase their empha-sis on nonprice market-development policies. Competition among exporters will increase for market opportunities created by reductions in import quotas and tariff