International trade in agricultural commodities is a relatively small component of total trade in goods and services, but it accounts for a disproportionate share of time and effort in trade negotiations and is the topic of many of the most contentious trade disputes.
The reasons for this imbalance are many, but they fall into three broad categories: the sensitivity of governments to issues that impinge on their ability to secure food supplies for their populations; the significance of agricultural exports for rural development and economic progress more generally; and the growing trade in food products associated with the rapid globalization of the food and beverage industry. In each of these aspects of the politics and economics of trade in agricultural and food products, powerful and conflicting interests arise. Trade regimes reflect the resolution of these forces, and any attempt to change rules meets with formidable resistance.
The intention of this article is to survey briefly the current issues surrounding the place of agriculture in the global trade agenda. That agenda itself is being discussed in a number of venues, from the World Trade Organization Doha Round, to the numerous bilateral trade agreements between countries at all stages of development, to the mega-regional arrangements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The outcome of these talks will determine the regime for agricultural and food trade in the decades to come.