The European Union spends €55 billion a year on farm subsidies. Until recently the question of where the money goes was a closely-guarded secret. But thanks to a campaign by journalists, … Continue Reading…
The world’s farmers have to produce 70% to 100% more food by 2050, and yet do so while reducing the roughly 30% of greenhouse gas emissions that agriculture causes. That was the challenge under discussion at Agriculture Day in Copenhagen on Saturday, a day-long set of meetings sponsored primarily by … Continue Reading…
After years of neglecting the links between farming, insecurity and poverty, last week G8 leaders committed to shifting development policy away from food aid toward food production in the world’s poorest countries. They seek to address the negative fallout from declining foreign direct investment, exports, and remittance flows and the … Continue Reading…
On July 6-7, as part of GMF’s on-going disemmination of the Transatlantic Taskforce on Development, I had the privilege of engaging with over 100 business and policy leaders from Africa at the Commonwealth Business Council’s G8 Africa Business Forum in London. In my remarks to the group, I urged G8 … Continue Reading…
As leaders of the Group of Twenty (G20) largest world economies prepare to meet in London at the beginning of April in the midst of deepening global economic difficulties, there is real and justifiable concern that the meeting is almost guaranteed to fail. These fears are based on the scale of the tasks at … Continue Reading…
History tells us that multilateral trade rounds never die, and Doha is no exception. If the negotiations cannot be concluded this year, they will enter a period of hibernation, and things will pick up again when conditions are ripe to engage in a meaningful negotiation (probably during the second half … Continue Reading…
Making progress in multilateral trade negotiations involving more than 150 countries is very difficult. Negotiations require exchanges – offering something for what you want. Given the widely discrepant wealth of developed and developing countries, the poorest countries must, in relative terms, offer a great deal more.
Negotiations can advance because the … Continue Reading…
The gains from a Doha Round would greatly exceed those of the Uruguay Round. It would be a shame if an inability to find a solution to the SSM on the one hand, and further reduce trade distorting support on the other, derails the Doha Round, Such a failure would … Continue Reading…
In my view a failed Ministerial is not a failed Round. I am not aware that any of the negotiators have indicated that the Round has failed, and it is important as talks move forward to remain committed to sound agricultural policy, both in international trade and on a domestic … Continue Reading…
Significant progress occurred during the July negotiations in Geneva. However, many differences remained, both within the issues included in the Lamy package and in other areas that were never seriously tackled, such as cotton and geographical indications. As a result, I believe that it is an over- simplification to place … Continue Reading…