1st Edition

The WTO, Agriculture and Sustainable Development

Edited By Heinrich Wohlmeyer, Theodor Quendler Copyright 2002

    Despite the Doha declaration of November 2001, the failure to start a new round of global trade negotiations at Seattle in December 1999 and the hostility of protesters to the trade liberalization process and growing global economic and social disparities was a wake-up call for the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The ambitious goal of this ground-breaking book is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of liberalized world trade, in particular in the agricultural sector, and to investigate to what extent the current WTO agreements provide the necessary fail-safe devices to react to trade-related negative impacts on sustainability, environmental protection and food security. The background and interrelationship between the WTO, the tenets of sustainable development and the unique features of the agriculture and forestry sectors are explored, and conclusions regarding the deficits of the world trade system and its conflicts with basic societal goals – such as sustainability – are drawn.  Agriculture and forestry have a particular affinity with what the authors call "strong sustainability" and are to be among the major agenda items in forthcoming WTO negotiations. The book proposes that sustainable agricultural production techniques such as integrated and organic farming provide a series of related services to community and environment which could be severely prejudiced by wholesale trade liberalization and the imposition of the large-scale production methods of the mega-trade giants of the USA and Europe.  And yet the concept of sustainability is referred to only tangentially in the existing WTO agenda. The WTO, Agriculture and Sustainable Development argues that, without a formal recognition of this failing, the premise that free trade is inherently advantageous for all countries is a falsehood. Further, unfettered liberalization is unsustainable and a social and environmental multilateral framework must be agreed to reinterpret or adapt a host of WTO regulations that are at odds with sustainable development. The core problem is that, under the current system, import duties can only be differentiated by direct goods and services and not by their means of production – sustainable or otherwise. Therefore, a range of environmental policy measures in the agricultural sector, such as the consideration of product life-cycles, the internalization of external costs and a coupling of trade liberalization with ecological obligations are proposed by the authors. In addition, they argue that unsustainable economic short-termism must be curbed and the use of the stick of trade sanctions and the carrot of financial benefits for good environmental performance be permitted to promote sustainable agricultural practices.  This book will contribute greatly in addressing the lack of basic theoretical arguments at the intersection between trade and sustainable development – a failing that has already been bemoaned by trade policy-makers. It is highly recommended reading for all those involved or interested in the WTO negotiations, whether from multilateral organizations, governments, industry or civil society.

    Introduction Heinrich Wohlmeyer  1. Preliminary issues and basic considerations Heinrich Wohlmeyer   Section 1: The current performance of the world trade system and the World Trade Organisation2. The present legal basis of the world trade system Richard Senti  3. The agreement on technical barriers to trade and basic aspects of the agreement on the application of sanitary and phytosanitary measures Katrin Forgo  4. The producer support estimate and the aggregate measure of support: suitable gauges for evaluating agricultural and trade policy? Heinrich Wohlmeyer   Section 2: The theory of international trade5. A few remarks on trade theory Franz Weiss  6. Free trade and its effects: some critical comments Sigrid Stagl   Section 3: International trade: agricultural and environmental aspects7. International trade on the rise: a brief introduction Sigrid Stagl and Tobias Reichert  8. Sustainability: a challenge for future economic and social policy Theodor Quendler and Bernd Schuh  9. Agriculture, trade and the environment Franz Weiss  10. The special case of agriculture Bernd Schuh  11. Reasons for measures aimed at the stabilisation of production and markets in the agricultural sector Theodor Quendler  12. Important factors influencing future scenarios regarding food supplies, world population and environment Theodor Quendler  13. Environmental issues and their significance for agriculture and the food industry Theodor Quendler and Tobias Reichert   Section 4: Theoretical propositions for harmonising sustainable agriculture and free trade14. Analysis of current developments in international agricultural trade Tobias Reichert  15. The World Trade Organisation and Agenda 2000 Heinrich Wohlmeyer  16. Solutions within the existing theoretical framework: environmental and trade policy measures Bernd Schuh  17. Ecological economics as a new integrative approach Sigrid Stagl  18. Conclusions and proposals for solutions Theodor Quendler, Franz Weiss and Heinrich Wohlmeyer 19. Final remarks Heinrich Wohlmeyer

    Biography

    Heinrich Wohlmeyer, Theodor Quendler

    The real worth is in its snapshot of current academic thinking ... [a] slice of the leading edge thinking of sustainable agricultural movement within the academic and no-profit making community, globally. - The Journal of Sustainable Agriculture