Agriculture, Trade, and the WTO in South Asia

Historically, industrialized countries dominated trade negotiations from the establishment of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) through the lengthy Uruguay Round (UR) negotiations in the 1980s and 1990s. These negotiations established the World Trade Organization (WTO)-the GATT's successor organization-and formulated the UR Agreement on Agriculture (AoA). Even though developing countries possibly have the most to gain from a substantial reduction of existing export subsidies and removal of other trade impediments (Gorter, Ingco, and Ruiz 2000; Ingco 1995), these countries have been the most powerless, and the most ineffective. This is why it is imperative that developing countries, particularly those in South Asia, seize the moment to actively participate in this process of shaping a more globally integrated economic environment and to convey, for instance, their experience from implementing the reduction commitments and the effect of those commitments under the URAoA, the consequence of Special and Differential (S&D) Treatment, and their concerns regarding food security and the environment and the possible negative effects of the execution of the reform program. The new round, it is hoped, will cover broader issues, with established deadlines and room for tradeoffs.