This report examines the different channels through which trade openness (and reforms to achieve it) can affect a country’s food security. The overall conclusion is that trade openness has a positive net impact on food security, although specific constituencies, including some poor households,...

This report considers developments in agricultural patents since 1990 and their economic implications. It first provides an overview of the international framework for intellectual property protection and of the general trends in the stringency of protection in OECD countries. It then presents...

Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) are key instruments to governing international trade, and reflect a balance between political and economic objectives. The level of liberalisation in the agriculture sector can differ substantially across negotiated agreements, and even across products within the...

This report analyses policies along the agricultural supply chain, in particular support measures for fertilisers and for biofuels. It uses the OECD Fertiliser and Biofuel Support Policies Database that covers polices in 48 countries (including the EU and its Members) and assesses the market...

This report looks at procedures and processes related to non-tariff measures in agricultural trade. Based on the prior that countries are likely to make efforts to reduce the trade hindering effects of domestic food regulation within regional trade agreements, we focus on three different RTAs,...

This study analyses the relationships between competitiveness in manufacturing and the quality of key supporting services. Three indicators of competitiveness are considered: the degree of product differentiation, unit prices obtained in export markets and the duration of trade. The density of...

Understanding trade costs is essential for formulating policy interventions designed to reduce such costs. This report synthesises all OECD work on cost factors across the entire trade chain. These factors can be located behind the border, such as non-tariff regulatory measures, market access...

This paper is the first of four country case studies which is a part of a broader research programme addressing trade and structural adjustment issues in non-member economies which was conducted as a follow-up to Trade and Structural Adjustment: Embracing Globalisation (OECD, 2005) which...

This paper is the second of four country case studies which is a part of a broader research programme addressing trade and structural adjustment issues in non-member economies which was conducted as a follow-up to Trade and Structural Adjustment: Embracing Globalisation (OECD, 2005) which...

Societal concerns as they pertain to farming activities play an important role today in the development of national policies. How such concerns are perceived varies from one society to another as do the policy responses (economic instruments and regulations) that governments put in place. These...