Agriculture and Rice Trade Liberalisation: Potential Implications for South Asian Countries

The Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture made significant progress on establishing new rules governing the operation of the sector and international trade in agricultural goods. The initial reforms, however, did not bring about the expected substantial improvement in global competition and market access, and agriculture has therefore remained a key area of negotiations in the WTO.

Obligations for future liberalisation of the rice sector are likely to restrict the scope for the adoption of appropriate policy instruments by governments. This can affect their ability to safeguard livelihoods and the food security of their rice-dependent populations and countries. This issue of Trade Hot Topics summarises the findings of a major research study from the Commonwealth Secretariat that explores the likely consequences of global rice and agricultural trade liberalisation in four South Asian countries: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.