The recent period of high and volatile food prices has cast doubt on many longstanding assumptions such as the inevitability of declining real food prices, and brought to an end a long period of food price stability. Some of the key driving forces appear to have been declines in yield growth for...

This article summarizes key insights from the firm heterogeneity and trade literature, the theme-day topic of the 2006 IATRC Annual Meeting, and draws their implications for the agricultural and food industries

The negotiation of improved market access in agriculture is crucial to the success of the Doha Round. The depth of tariff cuts will be the main indication of the level of ambition of the agricultural talks and hence the Round as a whole. Agricultural tariffs remain five times higher than tariffs...

The elements of a new agreement relating to domestic support for agriculture are set out in the WTO Framework document of July 2004. This introduces the concept of the Overall Trade Distorting Support (OTDS), which is to be disciplined and subject to reduction. In addition, some of the...

The Doha Round Ministerial Decision called for "Reduction of, with a view to phasing out, all forms of export subsidies." The Export Competition Pillar of the agricultural negotiations includes direct export subsidies, export credits, state trading enterprises and food aid. The July framework...