Asian perspective [In Getting ready for the Millenium Round trade negotiations]

This brief examines Asia’s agricultural trade policy priorities in preparation for the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Millennium Round negotiations, emphasizing the region’s growing importance in global agricultural production and trade despite the disruptions caused by the Asian financial crisis. It highlights the considerable diversity of interests among Asian economies, ranging from highly protected agricultural markets such as Japan and South Korea to export-oriented Cairns Group members and large food-importing countries such as India and Pakistan. The brief argues that the upcoming negotiations should address unresolved issues from the Uruguay Round, including market access, tariff-rate quotas, export subsidies, state trading enterprises, and safeguard measures, while also considering emerging issues such as sanitary and phytosanitary standards, biotechnology, intellectual property rights, competition policy, and environmental regulations. It concludes that although Asia lacks a unified negotiating position, greater engagement in multilateral trade negotiations, regional cooperation through organizations such as APEC and ASEAN, and continued trade and domestic policy reforms will be essential for ensuring that the region benefits from a more open, predictable, and efficient global agricultural trading system.