This publication explains how international food safety standards are set through the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and World Health Organization (FAO/WHO) Food Standards Programme – the Codex Alimentarius Commission – and how these standards are applied in the context of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreements on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) and on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement).Through the...

Trade in agricultural products has expanded almost threefold in value terms over the past decade and is expected to continue to increase over the coming years. As such, it will play an increasingly important role in influencing the extent and nature of food security. While agricultural trade can have important benefits for food security and nutrition, the challenge is to ensure that its expansion works for, and not against, the...

The document is based on the publication “Review of Agricultural Trade Policies in former Soviet Union countries 2015-16” available in Russian. The main economic and political factors influencing the patterns of agrifood trade in the region during 2014 generally continued to have an impact in 2015 and 2016. In particular, a further slowdown in economic growth was observed in all countries during 2015. In addition, the depreciation of all the...

Global food commodity markets are broadly stable, supported by adequate supplies. Prospects for continued stability remain favourable also for 2016/17. Despite larger volumes of imports, the world food import bill is set to decline by 9 percent to a 7-year low in 2016, on expectation of lower international prices and freights.

Global food commodity markets are broadly stable, supported by adequate supplies. Prospects for continued stability remain favourable also for 2016/17. Despite larger volumes of imports, the world food import bill is set to decline by 9 percent to a 7-year low in 2016, on expectation of lower international prices and freights.

International prices of wheat dipped in August, after increasing in the past few months, following an upturn in production prospects in the Black Sea region which improved the 2017 global supply outlook. Maize quotations also fell on improved weather conditions and abundant global supplies. International prices of rice were relatively stable, although price movements were mixed across the different rice market segments. In East Africa, prices of cereals generally continued...

Due to a prolonged drought, the 2017 wheat output is estimated to drop by almost 50 percent from last year’s near-average output. Production of other food crops, such as potatoes, barley, oats and vegetables, also has been severely affected. Limited fodder availability and pasture access in drought-affected areas raises serious concerns for the livestock sector in the forthcoming winter months. Cereal import requirements in the 2017/18 marketing year forecast to...

This brief analyses the impact that non-tariff measures (NTMs) have on agri-food products and the disciplines on NTMs in the multilateral trading system.