Cotton Subsidies, the WTO, and the ‘Cotton Problem’
Following an 8-year long dispute over cotton subsidies, Brazil and the United States signed a Memorandum of Understanding on April 21, 2010, effectively paving the way for settling the dispute. This paper argues that cotton subsidies are just the t...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2012
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20110518123649 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3426 |
| id |
okr-10986-3426 |
|---|---|
| recordtype |
oai_dc |
| spelling |
okr-10986-34262021-04-23T14:02:09Z Cotton Subsidies, the WTO, and the ‘Cotton Problem’ Baffes, John ADVERSE EFFECTS AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES AGRICULTURAL CROPS AGRICULTURAL PRICES AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AGRICULTURE ANIMAL ANIMAL FEED BENCHMARKS BIOTECHNOLOGY BY-PRODUCTS CAPACITY BUILDING COLLATERAL COMMODITY COMMODITY PRICE COMMODITY PRICES COMPETITIVENESS COTTON COTTON PRICES COTTON PRODUCTION COTTON SECTOR CROP CURRENCY DEVALUATION DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPING COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVES DEVELOPMENT POLICY DOMESTIC CURRENCY DOMESTIC MARKETS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT EDIBLE OILS EXCHANGE RATE EXCHANGE RATE REGIME EXPORT CREDIT EXPORT SECTORS EXPORTS FAO FARM FATS FERTILIZERS FIBRES TEXTILES FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FOOD PRICES FOREIGN BANKS GENETICS GLOBAL ECONOMIC PROSPECTS GLOBAL EXPORTS GLOBAL MARKET GLOBAL MARKETS INCOME INCOMES INEFFICIENCY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE LDCS LOCAL CURRENCIES LOW INTEREST RATES MACROECONOMIC STABILITY MAIZE MARKET ACCESS MONOPOLY NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OUTPUT OVERVALUATION PLANTING POLITICAL ECONOMY POOR FARMERS POOR HOUSEHOLDS POVERTY REDUCTION PRODUCE PROPERTY RIGHTS RAPID EXPANSION RICE RICE PRICES SEED SEED COTTON SETTLEMENT SYSTEM SMALLHOLDERS SUGARCANE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TAX TAXATION TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TRADE DISPUTES TRADE NEGOTIATIONS TRADE POLICY TRADING SYSTEM TRANSPARENCY VEGETABLE OILS WHEAT WORLD ECONOMY WORLD MARKET WORLD TRADE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION WTO Following an 8-year long dispute over cotton subsidies, Brazil and the United States signed a Memorandum of Understanding on April 21, 2010, effectively paving the way for settling the dispute. This paper argues that cotton subsidies are just the tip of the iceberg while a number of other, perhaps more important, issues require attention and, indeed, political will. Chief among them is the persistent divergence between cotton prices and the prices of other agricultural commodities, which reflects, for the most part, the large supply response by China and India, a direct consequence of con-version to biotech cotton varieties in these (and other) countries. Such response -- which kept cotton prices low, compared with other commodities -- imposes a competitive disadvantage to non-users of biotech cotton. The paper also highlights two additional constraints faced by the cotton producing countries of West and Central Africa, namely, the structural inefficiencies of their primary processing industries (also known as ginning) and the appreciation of the CFA franc against the US dollar. Without downplaying the importance of subsidy elimination, the paper concludes that these impediments should receive high priority in the policy agenda. 2012-03-19T18:02:15Z 2012-03-19T18:02:15Z 2011-05-01 http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20110518123649 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3426 English Policy Research working paper ; no. WPS 5663 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper The World Region The World Region |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
ADVERSE EFFECTS AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES AGRICULTURAL CROPS AGRICULTURAL PRICES AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AGRICULTURE ANIMAL ANIMAL FEED BENCHMARKS BIOTECHNOLOGY BY-PRODUCTS CAPACITY BUILDING COLLATERAL COMMODITY COMMODITY PRICE COMMODITY PRICES COMPETITIVENESS COTTON COTTON PRICES COTTON PRODUCTION COTTON SECTOR CROP CURRENCY DEVALUATION DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPING COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVES DEVELOPMENT POLICY DOMESTIC CURRENCY DOMESTIC MARKETS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT EDIBLE OILS EXCHANGE RATE EXCHANGE RATE REGIME EXPORT CREDIT EXPORT SECTORS EXPORTS FAO FARM FATS FERTILIZERS FIBRES TEXTILES FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FOOD PRICES FOREIGN BANKS GENETICS GLOBAL ECONOMIC PROSPECTS GLOBAL EXPORTS GLOBAL MARKET GLOBAL MARKETS INCOME INCOMES INEFFICIENCY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE LDCS LOCAL CURRENCIES LOW INTEREST RATES MACROECONOMIC STABILITY MAIZE MARKET ACCESS MONOPOLY NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OUTPUT OVERVALUATION PLANTING POLITICAL ECONOMY POOR FARMERS POOR HOUSEHOLDS POVERTY REDUCTION PRODUCE PROPERTY RIGHTS RAPID EXPANSION RICE RICE PRICES SEED SEED COTTON SETTLEMENT SYSTEM SMALLHOLDERS SUGARCANE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TAX TAXATION TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TRADE DISPUTES TRADE NEGOTIATIONS TRADE POLICY TRADING SYSTEM TRANSPARENCY VEGETABLE OILS WHEAT WORLD ECONOMY WORLD MARKET WORLD TRADE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION WTO |
| spellingShingle |
ADVERSE EFFECTS AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES AGRICULTURAL CROPS AGRICULTURAL PRICES AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AGRICULTURE ANIMAL ANIMAL FEED BENCHMARKS BIOTECHNOLOGY BY-PRODUCTS CAPACITY BUILDING COLLATERAL COMMODITY COMMODITY PRICE COMMODITY PRICES COMPETITIVENESS COTTON COTTON PRICES COTTON PRODUCTION COTTON SECTOR CROP CURRENCY DEVALUATION DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPING COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVES DEVELOPMENT POLICY DOMESTIC CURRENCY DOMESTIC MARKETS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT EDIBLE OILS EXCHANGE RATE EXCHANGE RATE REGIME EXPORT CREDIT EXPORT SECTORS EXPORTS FAO FARM FATS FERTILIZERS FIBRES TEXTILES FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FOOD PRICES FOREIGN BANKS GENETICS GLOBAL ECONOMIC PROSPECTS GLOBAL EXPORTS GLOBAL MARKET GLOBAL MARKETS INCOME INCOMES INEFFICIENCY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE LDCS LOCAL CURRENCIES LOW INTEREST RATES MACROECONOMIC STABILITY MAIZE MARKET ACCESS MONOPOLY NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OUTPUT OVERVALUATION PLANTING POLITICAL ECONOMY POOR FARMERS POOR HOUSEHOLDS POVERTY REDUCTION PRODUCE PROPERTY RIGHTS RAPID EXPANSION RICE RICE PRICES SEED SEED COTTON SETTLEMENT SYSTEM SMALLHOLDERS SUGARCANE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TAX TAXATION TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TRADE DISPUTES TRADE NEGOTIATIONS TRADE POLICY TRADING SYSTEM TRANSPARENCY VEGETABLE OILS WHEAT WORLD ECONOMY WORLD MARKET WORLD TRADE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION WTO Baffes, John Cotton Subsidies, the WTO, and the ‘Cotton Problem’ |
| geographic_facet |
The World Region The World Region |
| relation |
Policy Research working paper ; no. WPS 5663 |
| description |
Following an 8-year long dispute over
cotton subsidies, Brazil and the United States signed a
Memorandum of Understanding on April 21, 2010, effectively
paving the way for settling the dispute. This paper argues
that cotton subsidies are just the tip of the iceberg while
a number of other, perhaps more important, issues require
attention and, indeed, political will. Chief among them is
the persistent divergence between cotton prices and the
prices of other agricultural commodities, which reflects,
for the most part, the large supply response by China and
India, a direct consequence of con-version to biotech cotton
varieties in these (and other) countries. Such response --
which kept cotton prices low, compared with other
commodities -- imposes a competitive disadvantage to
non-users of biotech cotton. The paper also highlights two
additional constraints faced by the cotton producing
countries of West and Central Africa, namely, the structural
inefficiencies of their primary processing industries (also
known as ginning) and the appreciation of the CFA franc
against the US dollar. Without downplaying the importance of
subsidy elimination, the paper concludes that these
impediments should receive high priority in the policy agenda. |
| format |
Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper |
| author |
Baffes, John |
| author_facet |
Baffes, John |
| author_sort |
Baffes, John |
| title |
Cotton Subsidies, the WTO, and the ‘Cotton Problem’ |
| title_short |
Cotton Subsidies, the WTO, and the ‘Cotton Problem’ |
| title_full |
Cotton Subsidies, the WTO, and the ‘Cotton Problem’ |
| title_fullStr |
Cotton Subsidies, the WTO, and the ‘Cotton Problem’ |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Cotton Subsidies, the WTO, and the ‘Cotton Problem’ |
| title_sort |
cotton subsidies, the wto, and the ‘cotton problem’ |
| publishDate |
2012 |
| url |
http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20110518123649 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3426 |
| _version_ |
1764386979237068800 |