1,153
Views
14
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Articles

WTO agricultural trade battles and food aid

Pages 1439-1452 | Published online: 07 Aug 2006
 

Abstract

Recent agricultural trade battles at the WTO between the US and the EU have important implications for the Global South, in particular with respect to food aid. The current Doha round of trade talks hinges closely on agreement in the area of agriculture, and a key issue of disagreement between the US and the EU is the question of whether the WTO should impose disciplines on food aid and agricultural export credits. The US has also challenged the EU at the WTO over trade in genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The outcome of this dispute will affect food aid, as many countries have in recent years rejected GM food aid from the US on the grounds that it would harm their export markets in Europe. Decisions on both of these battles should be forthcoming within the next year or two, and the outcomes will affect food aid policies.

Notes

Jennifer Clapp is at the Department for International Development Studies, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, K9J 7B8, Canada. Email: [email protected]

The author would like to thank Christopher Rompré, Sam Grey and Marcelina Salazar for research assistance and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for financial support.

See K Watkins, Northern Agricultural Policies and World Poverty: Will the Doha ‘Development Round’ Make a Difference?, London: Oxfam, 2003 (paper to be presented at the World Bank Annual Bank Conference of Development Economics, Paris).

J Madeley, Hungry for Trade: How the Poor Pay for Free Trade, London: Zed, 2000.

DJ Shaw & HW Singer, ‘A Future food aid regime: implications of the final act of the Uruguay Round’, Food Policy, 21(4/5), 1996, p 452.

On the FAC, see C Benson ‘The food aid convention: an effective safety net?’, in: E Clay & O Stokke (eds) Food Aid and Human Security, London: Frank Cass, 2000.

W Thompson, ‘Food aid in the context of the WTO negotiations on agriculture’, available at www.fao/org/DOCREP/005/Y3733E/y3733e06.htm.

World Trade Organisation (WTO), Agreement on Agriculture, Article 10.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), An Analysis of Official Supported Export Credits in Agriculture, Paris: OECD, 2000, p 11.

These programs are explained in C Hanrahan, Agricultural Export and Food Aid Programs, CSR Issue Brief for Congress, Washington: Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, 2003.

Hanrahan, 2003, p 6; Watkins, 2003, p 49.

See the US Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) website, www.fas.usda.gov/excredits/default.htm.

OECD, 2000, p 15, p 6, p 23; Oxfam America, US Export Credits: Denials and Double Standards, Washington, DC: Oxfam, 2003, pp 4–5.

United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Food Aid and Food Security Policy Paper, PN‐ABU‐219, Washington DC: USAID, 1995.

Watkins, 2003, p 51.

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) data.

C Barrett, Food Aid and Commercial International Food Trade, background paper prepared for the Trade and Markets Division, Paris: OECD, 2002, p 1.

Barrett, 2002, p 14.

CB Barrett & DG Maxwell, Food Aid After 50 Years: Recasting Its Role, London: Routledge, 2005, Chapter 4.

Watkins, 2003, pp 52–53.

See Benson, 2000.

US, Proposal for Comprehensive Long‐Term Agricultural Trade Reform, G/AG/NG/W/1, special session of the WTO Committee on Agriculture, 23 June 2000, p 5.

See EU, European Communities Proposal Export Competition, G/AG/NG/W/34, special session of the WTO Committee on Agriculture, 18 September 2000.

See E Taylor & D Pruzin, ‘Top trade officials announce “convergence” on points related to WTO agriculture talks’, International Trade Reporter, 21(25), 2004, p 1011.

EU, Food Aid, note by the European Communities, special session of the WTO Committee on Agriculture, 3–5 December 2001.

See EU, European Communities Proposal Export Competition, G/AG/NG/W/34, special session of the WTO Committee on Agriculture, 18 September 2000.

D Pruzin, ‘United States rejects call for WTO talks on new disciplines for food aid distribution’, International Trade Reporter, 18(49), 2001, p 1979.

WTO, Negotiations on Agriculture First Draft of Modalities for the Further Commitments, TN/AG/W/1, special session of the WTO Committee on Agriculture, 17 February 2003.

R Zoellick, ‘A strategic opportunity for trade’, speech given at the French Institute of International Relations, 13 May 2004.

Quoted in C Raghavan, ‘After Paris meet, Groser drawing up agriculture framework text’, North‐South Development Monitor (SUNS), 5613, 2004.

See WTO, ‘Doha work programme decision adopted by the General Council on 1 August 2004 WT/L/579’, 2 August 2004, available at www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dda_e/ddadraft_31jul04_e.pdf.

See The White House, Blueprint for New Beginnings, available online at www.whitehouse.gov/news/usbudget/blueprint/bud16.html.

National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG), ‘Letter to Robert Zoellick’, NAWG Weekly Newsletter, 13 February 2004. Available online at www.wheatworld.org.

WTO African Group, Joint Proposal on the Negotiations on Agriculture, G/AG/NG?W/142, special session of the WTO Committee on Agriculture, 23 March 2001, p 3; See also MERCOSUR, Export Credits for Agricultural Products, G/AG/NG/W/139, special session of the WTO Committee on Agriculture, 21 March 2001; and Dakar Declaration of Third LDC Trade Ministers' Meeting, Dakar: 4–5 May 2004.

WTO African Group, 2001, p 4.

Dakar Declaration of Third LDC Trade Ministers' Meeting, Dakar: 4–5 May 2004.

K Raja, ‘Compaints of lack of transparency and inclusiveness at talks’, North‐South Development Monitor (SUNS), 5603, 2004.

See A Narlikar & R Wilkinson, ‘Collapse at the WTO: a Cancun postmortem’, Third World Quarterly, 25(3), 2004, pp 447–460.

USDA Economic Research Service, Foreign Agricultural Service's US Trade Internet System, available online at www.fas.usda.gov/ustrade/.

See R Falkner, ‘Regulation biotech trade: the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety’, International Affairs, 76(2), 2000, p 308.

Codex Alimentarius Commission, Report of the Fourth Session of the Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Task Force of Foods Derived from Biotechnology, ALINORM 02/34A, Rome: FAO & World Health Organisation (WHO), 2003.

U Thomas, ‘The Codex Alimentarius and environmental issues: manoeuvring between the WTO and the UN system’, paper presented at the 43rd Annual Convention of the International Studies Association (ISA), New Orleans: ISA, 2002.

A Prakash & K Kollman, ‘Biopolitics in the EU and the US: a race to the bottom or convergence to the top?’, International Studies Quarterly, 47, 2003, pp 617–641.

G Isaac & W Kerr, ‘Genetically modified organisms at the World Trade Organisation: a harvest of trouble’, Journal of World Trade, 37(6), 2003, pp 1083–1095.

M Pollack & G Shaffer, ‘Biotechnology: the next transatlantic trade war?’, The Washington Quarterly, 23(4), 2000, pp 21–54.

See Friends of the Earth International (FOEI), Playing with Hunger: The Reality Behind the Shipment of GMOs as Food Aid, Amsterdam: FOEI, 2003; and ACDI/VOCA, Genetically Modified Food: Implications for US Food Aid Programs, Washington DC: ACDI/VOCA, 2003. Available online at www.acdivoca.org.

World Food Program (WFP), Policy on Donations of Foods Derived from Biotechnology (GM/Biotech Foods), WFP/EB.3/2002/4‐C, Rome: WFP, 2002, pp 4–5.

J Clapp, ‘The political economy of food aid in an era of agricultural biotechnology’, paper presented at the International Studies Association Annual Meeting, Montreal: ISA, 2004.

See FOEI, 2003 for details.

M Dynes, ‘Africa torn between GM aid and starvation’, The Times, 6 August 2002, p 12.

R Carroll, ‘Zambia slams door shut on GM food relief’, The Guardian, 30 October 2002, p 30.

R Crilly, ‘Children go hungry as GM food rejected’, The Herald, 30 October 2002, p 12.

N Borlaug, ‘Science vs. hysteria’, Wall Street Journal, 22 January 2003.

European Report, 22 January 2003; Borlaug, 2003; see also G Yerkey, ‘Rep Thomas accuses EU of threatening Africa over GMOs in US food assistance’, International Trade Reporter, 20(5), 2003, p 244; The Independent, 21 January 2003, p 11; European Report, 22 January 2003.

E Alden & M Mann, ‘US shifts tactics in GMO clash with EU’, Financial Times, 15 October 2002, p 12.

C Grassley, ‘Salvation or starvation? GMO food aid to Africa’, remarks of Senator Chuck Grassley to the Congressional Economic Leadership Institute (CELI) Washington Program, Washington: CELI, 5 March 2003.

EU, European Commission Regrets US Decision to File WTO Case on GMOs as Misguided and Unnecessary, press release IP/03/681, Brussels: Europa, 13 May 2003.

FOEI 2003, p 9.

H Baumüller, Domestic Import Regulations for Genetically Modified Organisms and their Compatibility with WTO Rules, Trade Knowledge Network, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), 2003, p 14.

WTO, European Communities—Measures Affecting the Approval and Marketing of Biotech Products: Request for Consultations by the United States, Geneva: WTO, 20 May 2003.

R Zoellick, ‘United States v. European Union’, Wall Street Journal, 21 May 2003, available online at: http://www.ustr.gov/Document_Library/Op‐eds/2003/United—States_v._European_Union.html.

For details, see D Brack, R Falkner & J Goll, The Next Trade War? GM Products, the Cartagena Protocol and the WTO, Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA) Briefing Paper No.8, London: RIIA, 2003.

See Office of the United States Trade Representative, USDA, US and Coopering Countries File WTO Case Against EU Moratorium on Biotech Foods and Crops: EU's Illegal, Non‐Science based Moratorium Harmful to Agriculture and the Developing World, press release 2003‐31, Washington DC: USDA and USTR, 13 May 2003.

EU, European Commission Regrets US Decision to File WTO Case on GMOs as Misguided and Unnecessary, press release IP/03/681, Brussels: Europa, 13 May 2003.

USDA, United States Requests Dispute Panel in WTO Challenge to EU Biotech Moratorium, news release 03‐54, Washington DC: USDA, 11 August 2003.

Africa Center for Biosarety, Earthlife Africa, Environmental Rights Action, Friends of the Earth Nigeria, Grain and SafeAge, ‘GE food aid: Africa denied choice again?’, May 2004.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jennifer Clapp Footnote

Jennifer Clapp is at the Department for International Development Studies, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, K9J 7B8, Canada. Email: [email protected]

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 53.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 342.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.