The chapters collected here explore a number of different issues, including the operation of the tariff-rate quotas established under the Uruguay Round Agreement, the implications of sanitary and phytosanitary restrictions on trade, and the growing controversy over genetically modified organisms. In addition, several chapters analyze the interaction between agricultural trade and environmental concerns.
The relative prosperity in U.S. agriculture that attended the passage of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 was followed by a general decline in U.S. agricultural prices from 1998 to 2000. This trend in declining prices continues through the year 2001, despite the movement toward more liberalized agricultural trade. Trade liberalization has been the result of a variety of factors, including the implementation of the Uruguay Round Agreement, and the establishment of a variety of regional trade agreements, such as the North America Free Trade Agreement. Needless to say, in the face of falling agricultural prices and increasingly liberalized agricultural trade, the agricultural policy scene is an extremely complex one, both locally and globally.
This volume does not pretend to offer a single, systematic prescription for what the next agricultural policy should be. Rather, the arguments and analyses contained herein are intended to highlight several issues that must be considered in the continuing debates on agricultural policy.
List of Tables. List of Figures. Acknowledgements. About the Contributors. Preface. 1. Agricultural Globalization, Trade, and the Environment: Introduction; C.B. Moss, T.G. Taylor. Part I: Farm Programs and Trade Liberalization. 2. Farm Policy Reform in the United States; D. Orden. 3. Trade, Uncertainty, and New Farm Programs; L. Tweeten. 4. Has the Importance of Foreign Markets for U.S. Agriculture been Oversold?; B.L. Gardner. 5. Trade Liberalization and Small Economies: The Case of the Caribbean Community; C.G. Davis, et al. 6. Agricultural and Trade Policy under Administrative Water Regimes; C.B. Moss, C. de Bodisco. 7. Liberalization with Protection: Import Management in Korea (with Emphasis on Rice); D.A. Sumner, J.-S. Choi. Part II: Tariffs, Quotas and Rent Seeking. 8. Market Conduct and the Economic Impacts of a Tariff-rate Quota Policy: The European Banana Case; R. Herrmann, R. Sexton. 9. Rent Seeking and International Trade in Agriculture; H. de Gorter, et al. 10. Ex Ante Assessment of the FAIR Act; C. Dumas, T.G. Schmitz. 11. Import Rules for Foot-and-Mouth Disease Contaminated Beef; P.L. Paarlberg, J.G. Lee. 12. Trade Distortions in a Free-trade Zone: The Case of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Restrictions; T.H. Spreen, et al. 13. Sanitary and Phytosanitary Issues: Where Does the WTO Go From Here?; S.D. Thornsbury. Part III: Foreign-Direct Investment, Trade, and Vertical Contracting. 14. Foreign Direct Investment and Vertical Contracting in the Agri-Food Sector of Transition Economies; H.R. Gow, J.F.M. Swinnen. 15. The Impact of Food Industry Globalization on Agricultural Trade Policy; T. Josling. 16. International Trade and the Firm; T.G. Taylor, J.L. Seale, Jr. Part IV: Trade and the Environment. 17. International Trade with Price Supports and Environmental Constraints: The Canadian Hog Industry; R. Gray, et al. 18. Environmental Problems, Immigration, and Trade; R.E. Just, S. Netanyahu. 19. Welfare Gains under Tradable CO2 Permits; L. Karp, X. Liu. 20. The Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture: A Global Perspective; D. Zilberman, et al. 21. Tradable Permits and Agricultural Sequestration of Carbon; C. Dumas, et al. Part V: Trade and Biotechnology. 22. The Timing of Evaluation of Genebank Materials and the Effects of Biotechnology; B. Koo, B.D. Wright. 23. The Identification and Classification of Genetically Modified Organisms: Implications for Trade; R. Gray, et al. 24. International Trade in Genetically Modified Agri-food Products; W.B. Phillips. Index.