Wto Agriculture Negotiations On Market Access And Countermeasures In China

The main task of WTO multilateral trade negotiations, of which Agriculture is the focus and major difficulty, is to set up rules for international trade and thus push forward the trade liberalization process. The Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) of the Uruguay Round has, for the first time and in real sense, brought agriculture into the multilateral rules, and enhanced international trade of agricultural products.Liberalization is a process that needs continuous momentum. Since the launching of the new round WTO negotiations at the end of 2001, Agriculture remains the core issue. WTO members have engaged in tough talks concentrating on the main contents of the AoA. Due to the divergence of positions on Agriculture, the whole negotiation proceeds slowly, and is impossible to conclude by the set time, i.e., before 2005. One of the main issues of agricultural talks is market access, which mainly deals with how members will further reduce their tariffs on agri-products. Members are different in their natural conditions and agricultural development, and so are their views on this issue. They either propose or support different approaches of tariff reduction. Dissimilar positions reflect similar desires: to strive for more fair international conditions as well as the highest possible level of domestic protection for Agriculture, while promoting liberalization of international agri-trade. This thesis analyses, in four parts, the market access issue of WTO agricultural negotiation and policies China should adopt. Part One introduces the agricultural negotiations in the multilateral trading system and the issue of market access. Part Two mainly analyses the main tariff reduction formulae in agricultural market access negotiation. Part Three specifically discusses the difficulties China encounters in the new round agricultural negotiation and China's tactics. Based on the above three parts, Part Four addresses policy suggestions the author has to China's Agriculture in facing up to the WTO in a comprehensive way: It is a course that the government, the intermediate organizations and producers of the agri-sector shall actively participate in and can play an irreplaceable role respectively. The government should negotiate actively to defend our interests and make up responding domestic policies to upgrade the competitiveness of Agriculture. The intermediate organizations should play their roles more voluntarily. And the producers should meet the demand of challenges by further adapting themselves to the new situation.China, while playing an important role in the multilateral trading system, must energetically face its challenges. In this sense, joining the WTO symbolizes the new phase in China's reform and opening-up.