State trading enterprises practices, which can function as subsidies or dumping on the export side and hidden trade barriers on the import side, need transparency and stricter discipline. Ultimately the trade rules related to agricultural products that cover the relationship between export subsidies and food aid and export credits should be integrated in a unified framework. Many developing countries have dismantled or significantly reduced their domestic support for agriculture, mainly because of concerns about inefficient policies and fiscal constraints. The possible benefits these countries and the world can enjoy, however, are thwarted by the subsidies of developed countries. Least-developed and developing countries, however, will still be allowed special and differential treatment.
Agreement remains controversial.
Rather then reopening the agreement, the best approach is probably to ensure that the existing process of dispute settlement clarifies the issues involved. Concerns include the preservation of adequate levels of food aid, the provision of technical assistance and financial support to develop the agricultural sector in those countries, and the continuation and expansion of financial facilities to help with structural adjustment and short-term difficulties in financing food imports. The imposition of export taxes or export prohibitions may also hamper the access of these poorer countries to food supply at adequate and stable prices. Volatility in agricultural prices must be monitored carefully. While expansion of world agricultural trade should limit overall fluctuations by spreading supply and demand shocks over larger areas, the decline in world public stocks as a percentage of consumption works in the opposite direction.