International Agricultural Trade and Negotiations : Coping with a New Landscape
Commerce et négociations agricoles commerciales: s'ajuster au nouvel environnement
Résumé
Trade is a key element in food security but international cooperation is necessary for trade to help coping with supply shocks, to spread variations in crop yield and to dampen price volatility. While multilateral trade agreements have provided the foundations for a rule-based system, multilateralism has stalled. New economic and political conditions, in particular the new weight of emerging countries, have complicated the negotiations of a Doha agreement under the WTO. Agriculture plays a special role in the global negotiating game. Developed countries have given up many of their bargaining chips in the previous rounds of negotiation and concessions in agriculture are not sufficient for extracting concessions from emerging countries on services, procurement, and intellectual property that would make a multilateral agreement possible. Non-cooperative policies such as export restrictions are gaining momentum and distorting support is on the rise in emerging countries. With the development of bilateral agreements, there is a genuine risk of a more fragmented trading system that is unable to help coping with food insecurity. A series of research issues are listed that may help to revitalize the Doha negotiation agenda.
L'article est un panorama de la situation du commerce international et des négociations en cours sur les échanges. Il dresse un diagnostic et donne des pistes d'évolution pour les négociations de l'organisation mondiale du commerce dans le secteur agricole.