Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation 2018 by OECD

Author:OECD
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Environment/Urban, Rural and Regional Development/Industry and Services/Trade/Agriculture and Food
Publisher: OECD Publishing
Published: 2018-06-25T16:00:00+00:00

Trade policy developments in 2017-18

The European Union is committed not to resort to export subsidies since the WTO Ministerial conference in Nairobi in December 2015. No export refunds were provided for agricultural products since July 2013. Only residual amounts for outstanding licences have been paid since.

The European Union’s simple average MFN applied tariff rate for agricultural products was 11.1% in 2016 (WTO, 2018a), slightly up from its 2015 level. These levels compare with 4.2% for non-agricultural products. Import duties on high quality wheat have been suspended since 2012.

A range of import tariff rate quotas (TRQs) were filled at 80-100% during the 2017 calendar year, including those for chicken and poultry cuts, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, sweet peppers, almonds, grapes, pears and most cereals. Most of the remaining TRQs had a fill rate of less than 5% (WTO, 2018b).

The price-based special safeguard system has been made operational for some frozen poultry and dried eggs in marketing year 2015/16. During the same period, the volume-based special safeguard action has not been invoked. However, the system has been made operational at the level of calculation of figures for the trigger volumes for some fruit and vegetable products (EU notification to the WTO, March 2017).

The European Union ban on imports of birds originating from countries affected by avian influenza was still in place in 2017.

In December 2017, the European Union implemented a revision in the trade legislation introducing a new methodology to calculate dumping on imports, including for agricultural products.

The EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) entered into force provisionally on 21 September 2017, allowing application of about 90% provisions pending EU Member States ratification of the agreement by their national parliaments.

In September 2017, the European Parliament approved two EU-Iceland agreements, one on agricultural trade and one on mutual recognition of geographical indication. The agreement updated the 2007 European Economic Area Agreement that initially excluded agricultural and fisheries products from the free trade provisions.

In December 2017, the Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and Japan was finalised. Pending a final agreement on the investment protection chapter, the deal is expected to enter into force in 2019 (EC, 2018). The agreement will eliminate Japan’s duties for around 85% of EU agri-food products improving market access particularly for cheese, wine and meat and offer more than 200 Geographical Indications.

The trade negotiations between the European Union and the Mercosur countries have significantly advanced during 2017.Political agreement was reached with Mexico in April 2018.

Negotiation talks on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) that were initiated in July 2013 with the United States were put on hold in 2017.

Other free trade agreement negotiations have been initiated between the European Union and India (2007), Indonesia (2016), Malaysia (2010), Myanmar (2014), the Philippines (2016), Thailand (2013) and Viet Nam (2012). Other ongoing processes include negotiation with Morocco for a DCFTA. Negotiations were put on hold after the fourth round of negotiations in April 2014. In September 2017, the European Commission proposed negotiating directives to Australia and to New Zealand.88

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