A CASE AGAINST THE SIMULTANEOUS USE OF MARKET ACCESS RESTRICTIONS, DOMESTIC SUPPORT, AND EXPORT SUBSIDIES

The Uruguay Round of GATT introduced market disciplines to international trade in agricultural commodities. However, in cases where countries negotiated the right to limit market access, support domestic production at high levels and subsidize exports, the spirit of the WTO rules have been violated. The Norwegian meat market (beef, pork, lamb and mutton, and chicken) situations are studied in terms of the policy implications and WTO commitments. If Norway's policy objective is to target some level of production that satisfies its non-trade concerns, then semi-decoupled income support could be an improvement over a policy mix that simultaneously restricts market access, provides domestic support and applies export subsidies.