The Future of Preferential Trade Arrangements for Developing Countries and the Current Round of WTO Negotiations on Agriculture













Table of Contents


by
Stefan Tangermann
Institute of Agricultural Economics
University of Göttingen

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS

Rome, 2002


Food
and
Agriculture
Organization
of
the
United
Nations


The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.


All rights reserved. Reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product for educational or other non-commercial purposes are authorized without any prior written permission from the copyright holders provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of material in this information product for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without written permission of the copyright holders. Applications for such permission should be addresses to the Chief, Publishing and Multimedia Service, Information Division, FAO, Vialle delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy or by e-mail to [email protected]

© FAO 2002


Table of Contents


Acknowledgements

Executive Summary and Recommendations

1. Introduction

2. The Nature of Major Preferential Arrangements

3. Conceptualising Trade Preferences as an Element of Economic Relations between Developing and Developed Countries

4. The Benefits of Trade Preferences

5. The Costs of Trade Preferences

6. The Status of Trade Preferences in WTO

7. Options for the Future of Trade Preferences in WTO

8. Erosion of Preference Margins: is there a Case for Compensation?

8.1. When do MFN tariff reductions not result in erosion of preferential tariff margins?
8.2. Offsetting market effects
8.3 When and how to Compensate?

9. Conclusions

References

Appendix: An Algebraic Model of the Price and Quantity Effects of Trade Preferences and MFN Tariff Reductions