GATT Law on Agricultural Trade in Light of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

Abstract:     
This article concentrates specifically on the subject of the rules of the GATT which affect agricultural trade and their present and prospective impact on the environment. This examination will be undertaken in the context of the results of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. The general conclusion of this study is that the results of UNCED and the present direction of the GATT in regards to agricultural trade, in terms of the GATT Uruguay Round negotiations and the work of the Group on Environmental Measures and International Trade, are largely complimentary. The agricultural-trade-related instruments which emerged from UNCED are supportive of an open international trading system in recognition of the need to enhance global agricultural production, while at the same time drawing the attention of the GATT to the requirement that agricultural development be undertaken in
a sustainable manner.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 17

Keywords: UN Conference on Environment and Development, GATT, environment, agricultural trade

JEL Classification: F10, K32, K33, O13, Q17, Q32

Accepted Paper Series