The Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture : An Evaluation of its Implementation in OECD Countries

The Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture (URAA) was a turning point in the reform of the agricultural trade system. It imposed disciplines on trade-distorting domestic policies and established new rules in the areas of market access and export competition. How effective have the three disciplines contained in the URAA been in bringing about a reduction in the level of production-related support and protection? Which elements of the disciplines have proved effective and which ineffective? What policy lessons can be drawn from the experience so far? What might be inferred about opportunities and challenges for further trade liberalisation? This report provides some answers to these questions for all OECD countries. A key conclusion of the report is that the immediate quantitative effects of the URAA on trade and protection levels have been modest. The reasons for this include the weakness of many specific features of the URAA including implementation and methodological issues. Countries have already embarked on a new round of multilateral trade negotiations on agriculture. The challenge facing policy makers is to build upon the foundation of the URAA to further reduce trade distortions. This requires strengthening the disciplines already established under the URAA and addressing those weaknesses of the current agreement which have been identified in this study.