A Study On International Agricultural Trade Liberalization

This paper is to study the impact of GATT and WTO multilateral negotiations on agricultural trade liberalization by reviewing its history, particularly by reviewing the repercussions of Uruguay Round negotiations. Furthermore, the author works out structural relationships within international agricultural trade, systematically evaluates the implementation of the results out of Uruguay Round agricultural negotiations and its effects, and analyzes presumable outcomes of Doha Round agricultural negotiations in both qualitative and quantitive ways. The paper also examined the histical path of agricultural trade liberalization in China and its economic effects, and concludes with relevant policy recommendations. The main findings in the paper are as follows:1. Uruguay Round negotiations vs. international agricultural trade liberalization: Protectionism on agriculture can be dated back to the early 19^th century. Its expansion greatly restrained the development of international agricultural trade. For a rather long peroid, as an exception, agricultural trade was not bound by any effective international disciplines, and the protectionism concept was deeply rooted in the domestic agricultural policies of many developed countries. During the multilateral negotiations of GATT, there were several failed attempts to include agriculture issue into the whole framework. Before 1986, when the Uruguay Round negotiations were launched and agriculture issue was taken as the priority issue, there was no general international rules governing global agricultural trade. After years of hard work under the Uruguay Round, Agreement on Agriculture was finally reached, and has entered into force since 1 January 1995. The Uruguay Round distinguished itself by integrating agriculture issue into the multilateral negotiation system and pushing forward the progress of agricultural trade liberalization.2. Agricultural trade issues after the Uruguay Round negotiations. Problems still exists in our way toward agricultural trade liberalization. For instance, market access barriers, restrictive tariffs, tariff peaks and tariff escalation are all limiting real market access opportunities; unfair SPS/TBT measures adopted by certain developed countries seriously affect agricultural exportation from developing countries; domestic measures like doemstic support, export subsidies and export credit are distorting international agricultural trade.(1)Market Access:- Tariff peaks in developed countries remain their strong impacts on global...