Agricultural Subsidies in the WTO Green Box
Ensuring Coherence with Sustainable Development Goals

An analysis of the relationship between green box subsidies and sustainable development goals, which includes options for future reform.

Ricardo Meléndez-Ortiz (Edited by), Christophe Bellmann (Edited by), Jonathan Hepburn (Edited by)

9780521519694, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 3 December 2009

706 pages
23.3 x 16 x 3.5 cm, 1.22 kg

'This volume should prove invaluable for anyone seeking an encyclopedic and comprehensive coverage of current issues relating to green-box support. The sheer volume of material in this collection is staggering … I highly recommend the book to scholars of agricultural policy as well as to policy-makers interested in the intimate details associated with the WTO green box. The papers presented by this distinguished panel of experts provide an invaluable resource that previously did not exist in any single place.' The Journal of World Trade Review

Do the World Trade Organization's rules on 'green box' farm subsidies allow both rich and poor countries to achieve important goals such as food security, or do they worsen poverty, distort trade and harm the environment? Current WTO requirements set no ceiling on the amount of green box subsidies that governments can provide, on the basis that these payments cause only minimal trade distortion. Governments are thus increasingly shifting their subsidy spending into this category, as they come under pressure to reduce subsidies that are more directly linked to production. However, growing evidence nonetheless suggests that green box payments can affect production and trade, harm farmers in developing countries and cause environmental damage. By bringing together new research and critical thinking, this book examines the relationship between green box subsidies and the achievement of sustainable development goals, and explores options for future reform.

1. Overview Christophe Bellmann and Jonathan Hepburn
Part I. The Recent Evolution of Agricultural Trade Policy Reform: 2. The historical context of the green box Néstor Stancanelli
3. Doha Round negotiations on the green box, and beyond Jonathan Hepburn and Christophe Bellmann
4. The reform of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy Alan Swinbank
5. Farm policy reform in the US: past progress and future direction David Orden
6. Agricultural trade policy reform in Japan Masayoshi Honma
Part II. The Focus, Extent and Economic Impact of Green Box Subsidies: 7. Agricultural support in the green box: an analysis of EU, US and Japanese green box spending Jesús Antón
8. Green box subsidies and trade-distorting support: is there a cumulative impact? Carlos Galperín and Ivana Doporto Miguez
9. The distributional structure of green box subsidies in the European Union and France Vincent Chatellier
10. The distributional structure of US green box subsidies Harry de Gorter
Part III. Green Box Subsidies and Developing Countries: 11. Agricultural subsidies in the WTO green box: opportunities and challenges for developing countries André Nassar, Maria Elba Rodriguez-Alcalá and Cinthia C. Costa
12. Use of green box measures by developing countries: an assessment Biswajit Dhar
13. A Chinese perspective on the green box Jianmin Xie
14. African countries and the green box Abena Oduro
Part IV. Green Box Subsidies and the Environment: 15. The environmental impact of green box subsidies: exploring the linkages Ron Steenblik and Charles Tsai
16. The environmental impact of European Union green box subsidies Ariel Brunner and Harry Huyton
17. The environmental impact of US green box subsidies Jane Earley
18. Biofuels subsidies and the green box Tim Josling, Freeman Spogli and David Blandford
Part V. Looking Forward: How Can Change Take Place?: 19. Improving monitoring and surveillance of green box subsidies Andrea Cerda
20. Subsidy reform in the EU context: options for achieving change Teresa Cavero
21. Subsidy reform in the US context: deviating from decoupling Ann Tutwiler
22. Subsidy reform in Japan: options for achieving change Kazuhito Yamashita
23. Towards a green box subsidy regime that promotes sustainable development: strategies for achieving change Pedro de Camargo Neto and Renato Henz.

Subject Areas: International economic & trade law [LBBM], International economics [KCL]