The Uruguay Round has been described as a turning point in the evolution of agricultural policy. For the first time ever, a large majority of countries agreed a set of principles and disciplines that will help to harmonize both national and international agricultural policies in the future.
The Uruguay Round achievement is contained in a series of
agreements and ministerial decisions and declarations annexed to the Marrakesh Agreement,
which established the World Trade Organization (WTO). The annexes
include the:
The Multilateral Agreements on Trade in Goods include 13 individual agreements, three of which have particular relevance to FAO's technical activities.
They are the:
FAO's technical activities also have relevance to the:
The Agreement on Agriculture is of great significance, as it has brought agriculture into the mainstream of international trade rules.
The three main provisions of the Agreement are aimed at:
In all three areas the main thrust is to remove past production- and trade-distorting practices and to facilitate a fair and market-oriented agricultural trading system.
A number of agricultural commodities (e.g. rubber) as well as fish and fish products and forest products were not covered by this Agreement.
Decision on Measures Concerning the Possible Negative Effects of the
Reform
|
The SPS Agreement concerns the application of measures associated with the protection of human, animal and plant health in such a way that they are not a disguised restriction on international trade. This Agreement has particular relevance to plant and animal quarantine measures and to measures taken to ensure food safety.
Trade flow |
1970 |
1980 |
1990 |
1995 |
World exports (US$ billion) |
66.7 |
306.4 |
462.4 |
623.8 |
Exports by developing countries (US$ billion) |
21.9 |
88.3 |
119.7 |
174.1 |
Developing countries' share of world exports (%) |
32 |
29 |
26 |
28 |
Source: FAO.
It recognizes that governments have the right to adopt sanitary and phytosanitary measures but that they should be applied only to the extent necessary to achieve the required level of protection. Governments should not discriminate between members without sufficient scientific evidence, or arbitrarily when identical or similar conditions prevail.
The SPS Agreement encourages countries to adopt international standards.
The TBT Agreement seeks to ensure that technical regulations and standards, including packaging, marking and labelling requirements, and procedures for assessing conformity with technical regulations and standards do not create unnecessary obstacles to international trade.
It recognizes that a country has the right to take necessary measures, at a level it considers appropriate, to ensure the quality of its exports; the protection of human health or safety, animal or plant life or health and the environment; and to prevent deceptive practices. A country may also take the necessary steps to ensure that those levels of protection are met, as long as the measures, or action taken to implement them, do not create unnecessary obstacles to international trade.
The provisions of the TBT Agreement do not apply to sanitary and phytosanitary measures subject to the SPS Agreement, which includes measures to protect human, animal and plant life or health from pests and diseases and food-borne health hazards.
The TBT Agreement encourages countries to adopt international standards.
The TRIPS Agreement recognizes that widely varying national standards in the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights and the lack of a multilateral framework of principles, rules and disciplines dealing with international trade in counterfeit goods have been a growing source of tension in international trade relations.
Accordingly, it encompasses relevant international intellectual property agreements, provides for adequate intellectual property rights and includes effective enforcement measures to protect those rights.