ABARE Media Release
30 September 1999
AUS: Further reform of international agricultural policies an imperative for the new millenium
'Further reform of international agricultural policies is critical for the long term benefit of Australian farmers',
ABARE's Executive Director, Dr Brian Fisher, said today when releasing the research report Reforming world agricultural
trade policies and the current issues paper Multilateral agricultural policy reform: an imperative for the new
millennium.
'The previous round of negotiations set the framework for reducing distortions', Dr Fisher said. 'This round provides
the opportunity for achieving substantial benefits but only if effective reforms can be achieved.' 'Effective reforms
require an orientation of production away from countries with high agricultural support toward countries with low
support', Dr Fisher added.
The studies, produced with the financial assistance of the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation,
highlight the need for further reform of world agricultural policies.
With agricultural support in developed northern hemisphere countries approaching the extreme levels reached before the
Uruguay Round negotiations, further reform is required to capitalise on the legacy of those previous negotiations.
Means of achieving effective reform within the framework established under the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture
include eliminating export subsidies, increasing market access opportunities and reducing the impact of domestic support
arrangements on production and trade.
One of the reasons why agricultural support is again approaching pre Uruguay Round levels is that some domestic support
measures have been exempted from the agreed reductions. Dr Fisher said that, 'to achieve the benefits from the existing
framework, policies must be subject to reduction commitments. If policies are to be excluded, they must only be ones
that have no, or at worst, a minor impact on production or trade'.