The WTO and Food Security : Implications for Developing Countries (original) (raw)
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WTO and Food Security: Conclusion and Way Forward
Springer, 2016
This chapter summarises the main findings of this book and discusses the way forward to solve the problems faced by the developing countries on account of rules of the WTO. China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Zambia and Zimbabwe already face constraints in implementing food security policies due to the existing rules of AoA. There is a need to find a permanent solution to the problems faced by developing countries in implementing food security policy under the outdated provisions of AoA. This chapter discusses the various options to find a permanent solution to the issue of public stockholding for food security purposes and points out that common negotiating position of developing countries at the multilateral forum of the WTO will be useful to achieve a permanent solution to the issue of food security.
WTO and Food Security: Chapter 1 Introduction
Springer, 2016
This chapter provides a snapshot of implications for the food security policies in developing countries under the WTO regime. It critically examines the various provisions of the AoA which are creating problems for developing countries in implementing the food security policy without breaching their commitments under the WTO. This chapter discusses various proposals and modalities on food security during the Doha Development Round. The introduction also highlights the price support and food security policies in selected developing countries. Keywords: WTO. Food security. Doha development round. Agreement on Agriculture. Domestic support.
The WTO's Agreement on Agriculture and the Right to Food in Developing Countries
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Columbia Journal of Environmental Law, 2002
The article examines the food security implications of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture. It places the Agreement in historical context, examines its key provisions, and argues that the Agreement systematically favors industrialized country agricultural producers at the expense of farmers in developing countries. The Agreement enables industrialized countries to continue to subsidize agricultural production and to protect domestic producers from foreign competition while requiring market openness in developing countries. The article evaluates the effect of this imbalance on food security in developing countries, and proposes reforms to provide developing countries with the tools to promote access by all people at all times to sufficient, safe and nutritious food.
Food fight: What the debate about food security means at the WTO
Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l'alimentation, 2015
Although still experiencing significant levels of hunger and malnutrition, India has recently taken historic measures to improve food security, namely through the expansion of domestic food assistance programs. Under the Obama Administration, the U.S. has prioritized improving global food security and promoting agriculture development within the foreign policy agenda. President Obama has helped to lead the international community in reviving funding and attention to these issues. Yet, the U.S. has opposed the Indian food security program in negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) by rejecting India's proposals to shield the program from possible WTO enforcement. The disagreement came to a head in the WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali, Indonesia in December 2013 and more recently at a senior-level WTO meeting in July 2014 where negotiations collapsed. The conflict is emblematic of disjointed policy debates and development theories around food security, agriculture, and trade. The story so far… In July of 2013, India's cabinet finalized historic legislation to dramatically expand subsidized food distribution to the country's poor people. Although criticized by the political opposition, the measure expanded food entitlements in the country: 67 percent of the population will have a legal right to obtain subsidized food grains through the country's public food distribution system.
2018
This article examines efforts by member states of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to modify international trade laws to further accommodate public food stockholding for food security programmes operated by developing countries. While WTO members have negotiated a temporary Peace Clause to minimise the threat of a trade dispute for countries whose public food stockholding violates their international trade commitments, negotiations to modify existing WTO law have been fraught with political discord. I argue that states are using the WTO's negotiating function to address perceived conflicts between international trade law and national food security goals rather than pursuing a solution through legal adjudication. The case of public food stockholding reveals important dynamics about the WTO-food relationship security that are overlooked by approaches primarily concerned with supra-national constraints on national policy and the fragmentation of international law.