European Community—Sugar : Cross-Subsidization and the World Trade Organization

Hoekman, Bernard ; Howse, Robert

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ABSENCE OF AGREEMENT;    AD VALOREM;    ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE;    AGREEMENT ON AGRICULTURE;    AGREEMENT ON SUBSIDIES;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-4336
RP-ID  :  WPS4336

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

An important recent World TradeOrganization dispute settlement case for many developingcountries concerned European Union exports of sugar. Brazil,Thailand, and Australia alleged that the exports havesubstantially exceeded permitted levels as established byEuropean Union commitments in the WTO. This case had majorimplications for both European Union sugar producers anddeveloping countries that benefited from preferential accessto the European Union market. It was also noteworthy in theuse of economic arguments by the WTO dispute settlementpanel, which held that the excess sugar exports were in parta reflection ofillegal de facto cross-subsidization-rentsfrom production that benefited from high support pricesbeing used to cover losses associated with exports of sugarto the world market. Although in principle the economicarguments of the panel could apply to many other policyareas, in practice WTO provisions greatly limit the scope tobring similar arguments for trade in products that are notsubject to explicit export subsidy reduction commitments ofthe type that were made for sugar and other agricultural commodities.