Evolving Agricultural Policies and Markets: Implications for Multilateral Trade Reform

This report focuses on the significant developments in world agricultural markets and in the policies of major agricultural producing regions since the latest round of WTO negotiations began in 2001. In the past decade, production, prices and trade flows have been transformed and countries have substantially altered their agricultural trade and domestic support policies. The impacts of these policies on global production, trade and welfare (proxied by private household consumption) are assessed along with the effects of possible multilateral trade reform scenarios. The assessments are made through an application of the OECD’s computable general equilibrium model, METRO, in conjunction with the AGLINK-COSIMO outlook model.