United Nations Environment Programme
Division of Technology, Industry, and Economics
Economics and Trade Branch

Workshop on Integrated Assessment of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture in the Rice Sector

5 April 2002, Geneva, Switzerland

Background

The WTO Doha Declaration suggests that ongoing agriculture negotiations at the WTO include environmental and developmental considerations (non-trade concerns). It also takes note of national environmental assessments undertaken so far and encourages that expertise and experience be shared with WTO members wishing to perform environmental reviews at the national level.

As part of its ongoing programme on capacity building for integrated assessment of trade-related policies, the Economics and Trade Branch of UNEP launched its third set of integrated assessment projects focusing on the rice sector. The rice sector was chosen by experts participating in a preparatory workshop held in February, due to its importance in the national economies of many countries, as a major source of food for large segments of the population worldwide.

The third round of country projects on trade liberalisation in the agricultural sector and the environment included: Colombia, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Senegal and Viet Nam.

Objectives

  • Identify the main concerns or problems related to cultivationand trade of rice
  • Assess environmental, social and economic implications of current policies
  • Assess potential impacts of the implementation of the current WTO Agreement on Agriculture

The meeting highlighted the main research issues to be addressed as well as key national institutions and governmental bodies to be involved in this work. Nine developing countries' research institutions and experts from intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations as well as academic institutions took part in the meeting.