As indicated by the high level of food prices and volatility thereof, the international food and agricultural trade has been characterized by increasing uncertainty in recent years. Macroeconomic fluctuations seem to affect food and agricultural markets more strongly than in the past. The liberalization of agricultural policy, especially in industrialized countries, and the integration of world markets expose actors on domestic as well as on foreign markets to increased exchange rate and price fluctuations. This book investigates the determinants of food and agricultural trade flows of European countries using various econometric approaches. Where each of the chapters focuses on a particular issue, the overall topic of the first part of this book is to identify by what means the trend towards general liberalization and especially European integration has affected the amount of bilateral trade. Moreover, in the second part the book investigates the strategic pricing behavior of European producers in a liberalized global economy and elaborates how this behavior effects trade flows.

The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets 2022 (SOCO 2022) discusses how trade policies, based on both multilateral and regional approaches, can address today’s challenges for sustainable development. Trade policies in food and agriculture should aim to safeguard global food security, address the trade-offs between economic and environmental objectives, and strengthen the resilience of the global agrifood system to shocks, such as conflicts, pandemics and extreme weather. The report discusses the geography of trade, analysing food and agricultural trade and its patterns across countries and regions, its drivers and the trade policy environment. Comparative advantage, trade policies and trade costs shape the patterns of trade in food and agriculture. When comparative advantage plays out in the global market, trade benefits all countries. Lowering tariff barriers and reducing trade costs can promote trade and economic growth. Both multilateral and regional trade agreements can facilitate the process of making trade an avenue for growth but the gains of trade are distributed unevenly. When global environmental impacts, such as climate change, are considered, a multilateral approach to trade can help expand the reach of mitigation measures.

Based on original research by the Food and Resource Economic Institute in Denmark and the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington DC, this book addresses the controversial issue of the effects of developed countries' agricultural policies on developing countries. Written from the perspective of developing countries, it addresses the main issues raised by developing countries' governments, politicians, farmers organizations, NGO's, trade specialists and development specialists. It focuses on the key issues of food security, poverty, regional agreements, multifunctionality in agriculture and the trade of genetically modified products, as an input to policy reform within the World Trade Organization trade negotiations.

This title was first published in 2003. This prominent and commanding volume collates the best research available on China's agricultural trade. Critically analyzing the agricultural supply and demand factors that underlie trade patterns such as agricultural productivity and policy, it also explores China's agricultural trade and policy including implications for China and elsewhere. Long term issues and productivity growth are taken into consideration, as are specific issues such as WTO accession. The slate of authors combines the leading established scholars in the field and the best of the next generation, including those from China and the West.

This compelling volume, from the Centre for Economic Policy Research, examines the discussion surrounding expansion of the European Union (EU). The contributors address the key issues in the debate, including the implications of expansion for the global trading system, enlargement-related pressures to reform EU decision-making, and the economic consequences of membership for entrants. Using theoretical techniques to report results and insights, this book not only sheds light on the consequences of Austria, Finland and Sweden joining the EU, but also discusses and evaluates the possible membership of Central European ex-socialist countries. This is an important book for students and scholars interested in regional integration, and also for policy-makers in the new EU member countries and in applicant countries.

This is the 14th edition of this annual publication which analyses the global and national dimensions of the investment climate for developing countries, in terms of the policy and institutional environment. It considers the key multilateral trade issues and suggests policy options to help raise living standards in developing countries and reduce global poverty. Topics discussed include: the short, medium and long term global economic outlook, including driving forces, commodity prices and capital flows; exports from developing countries, trade barriers and policies to reduce inequities in the world trading system; trade in agriculture including possible changes in subsidies and the potential for liberalisation measures; the temporary movement of labour (within the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)); trade facilitation in the light of post-September 11 security concerns; the role of trade preferences, exemptions from WTO rules and technical assistance to implement WTO trade regulations.

"Agricultural Trade Liberalization investigates key issues in the Western Hemisphere, including potential scenarios for liberalization at the regional and multilateral levels, the effects of U.S. and European Union agricultural policies on trade, and the outcomes that a Free Trade Area of the Americas and a European Union-Mercosur trade agreement might have on agricultural trade flows. The book also examines the impact of sanitary and phytosanitary measures and biotechnology on agricultural trade, integration of sugar and dairy markets in the Americas, and a comparison of agri-food industries in the United States and Brazil. Finally, the book provides and overview of agricultural liberalization in the U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement and suggests a food security typology to be utilized by the World Trade Organization."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved