A griculture And WTO

The book attempts to highlight opportunities and challenges of Nepal in the agriculture sector as the country becomes member of WTO

By A CORRESPONDENT

A year has already passed since Nepal acceded to the WTO but the country is yet to work out its long-term and short-term plans to cope with the new situation. Since Nepal is an agricultural country with the involvement of more than 80 percent of population in the farm-related works, any change in agriculture policy will have serious implications in overall economic development of the country.

After joining the WTO, agriculture sector is going to be the first area where Nepal has to take major decisions changing its earlier policy on import. Unlike farmers of developed and other neighboring countries of the region, Nepalese farmers do not use the modern agriculture tools and still depend on traditional methods. In this context, the book – which consists of various research articles - is a commendable compilation that provides information on these subjects.

“All WTO agreements, decisions, and understandings will have some impact on the agricultural sector. However, there are some agreements that have a more direct bearing on it. These include the Agreements on Agriculture (AoA); the application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS); Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), and Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS),” writes Ramesh P.Sharma and Madhab K.Karkee. “One challenge for a WTO Member is to fully understand the meaning of all these agreements from both legal and trade perspectives. This is essential inter alia for taking full advantage of the new trading opportunities created by the WTO membership and for defending own trade interest. All in all, there is a great deal of homework and preparations to do. It is in this context that the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, (MoAC), as the focal point for agriculture on WTO matters in Nepal, took initiatives to prepare itself for the challenges in the post-accession period.”

The book is a first of its kind, which has studied almost all areas related to the agriculture sector, trade markets in the context of the WTO. The book has 18 different chapters. The first chapter focuses on introduction and overview with a summary of the findings of the background studies. Written by Bishnu D. Awasthi and Sharawan K. Adhikary, the second chapter discuses on Agreement on Agriculture: Domestic Support Measures. Awasthi and Adhikary discuss on Uruguay Round of Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) and its close link between domestic and trade policies. Another chapter is on Agreement on Agriculture: Market Access. The paper explains the AOA provisions on market access, economic and policy issues on tariff protection, the current structure of Nepal’s applied tariffs.

At a time when Nepal is facing many difficulties in the area of agriculture export and international competition, the book discuses on the WTO provisions on export competition, export subsidies, incentives and restrictions in Nepal. Other important issues like trade in food products, trade in live animals and animals products, trade in plant and plant products, legal framework for plant variety protection, potential products for geographical indications, import surge and trade remedy measures, Nepal India trade treaty and WTO compatibility, foreign direct investment in agriculture and Ago-Industry, trends in backward linkages and domestic sourcing of raw materials by Agro-industries are also discussed.

Likewise, the book has made commodity case studies on tea, vegetable ghee, fruits, poultry products and vegetables seeds. Based on intensive study, the book focuses on agricultural products in the context of the WTO. This book is very helpful for all those involved in the sector.

Implications of the WTO Membership

On The Nepalese Agriculture

Editors: Ramesh P.Sharma, Madhab K. Karkee and Laxman K. Gautam

Published by: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and United Nations Development Program in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, 2004

Price: Undisclosed

Pages: 307