Special agricultural safeguards: Lessons for the Doha Round

In the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) current Doha Round of trade talks, negotiators were discussing the future of the special agricultural safeguards that were introduced in the Uruguay Round. These safeguards allow certain WTO members (including the European Union) to levy an additional duty on selected agricultural imports so as to protect local producers from the effects of a temporary drop in the price of these imports or a surge in their quantity.

At the same time, negotiators have agreed to create a special safeguard mechanism—along the lines of the special safeguards—for use solely by developing countries for agricultural imports. A new IMF Working Paper draws lessons from the experience with agricultural safeguards for the design of the proposed mechanism.

• Primary Source

IMF Working Paper, No.131, 2005: Special Agricultural Safeguards: Virtual Benefits and Real Costs-Lessons for the Doha Round http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2005/wp05131.pdf

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