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Agricultural Negotiations at the WTO: First, Do No Harm

Agricultural trade liberalization can increase poverty in low-income countries if not handled carefully, because of the pervasiveness of small-scale farming as a source of livelihoods in low-income countries.

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By Ms. Sandra Polaski
Published on Jun 21, 2005

Source: Carnegie Endowment

Trade negotiators at the World Trade Organization (WTO) are struggling to meet a self-imposed deadline of December 2005 to agree on the broad outlines of a new trade deal that would cover global commerce in agricultural products, manufactured goods, and a wide array of services. The key bottleneck is agriculture: unless the shape of a deal on agricultural trade can be agreed upon, developing countries will block progress on trade liberalization for manufactured goods and services, the issues of paramount importance to developed countries. Multilateral trade liberalization will stall.  However, negotiations have not yet focused on a pivotal issue in developing countries' agricultural sectors, namely the fact that subsistence farming is the main source of income for most of the poor.  This issue deserves immediate attention as negotiators return to Geneva for a last effort to forge an agreement by December. 

Click here for the full text of this Policy Outlook.

In Chinese

About the Author
Sandra Polaski is a senior associate and Director of the Trade, Equity and Development Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She is a co-author of the Carnegie report NAFTA's Promise and Reality: Lessons from Mexico for the Hemisphere and author of Cambodia Blazes A New Path To Economic Growth and Job Creation (Carnegie Paper No. 51).

About the Author

Ms. Sandra Polaski

Former Senior Associate, Director, Trade, Equity and Development Program

Until April 2002, Polaski served as the U.S. Secretary of State’s Special Representative for International Labor Affairs, the senior State Department official dealing with such matters.

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Carnegie India does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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