Open Trade Boost to Agricultural Productivity

GLOBAL - A World Trade Organisation interagency report published on 12 June 2012 recommends that G20 governments should “demonstrate leadership in multilateral negotiations to strengthen international disciplines on all forms of import and export restrictions, as well as on domestic support schemes that distort production incentives”.

13 June 2012

2 minute read

Early in 2012 Mexico, as G20 President, invited international organizations to examine practical actions that could be undertaken to sustainably improve agricultural productivity growth, in particular on small family farms.

The preparation of this report, coordinated by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), is a collaborative undertaking by Bioversity International, the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centres, the FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the International Food Policy Research Institute, the Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture, the OECD, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the UN High Level Task Force on the Food Security Crisis, the UN World Food Programme, the World Bank and the WTO.

The report, which was used as a key input in the discussions of the G20 Agricultural Group, states that “substantially reducing trade and production distorting domestic support, improving market access opportunities, eliminating export subsidies and strengthening the disciplines on export restrictions will improve the enabling environment for investment and productivity growth”.

It also notes the critical role played by the WTO’s Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement in contributing to the reduction of production losses due to pests and diseases, and the need to support capacity building in this field, including through the Standards and Trade Development Facility.