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THE IMPACT OF TRADE LIBERALIZATION 43


and eighth largest importers, and although Syria contributes only 1 percent of world wheat exports, it is among the 10 largest suppliers. Since 2000, wheat exporters such as the E.U. and the United States have largely eliminated export subsidies under the URAA, but they continue to pro- vide support to domestic production through programs that include marketing assistance loan payments, direct and countercyclical payments, crop insur- ance, and surplus disposal programs for export assistance (Vocke, Allen, and Ali 2005). Still, the OECD countries’ support for wheat, as measured through single commodity transfers (SCTs), has dropped dramatically, from 45 percent of gross farm receipts for wheat in 1986–88 to under 10 percent in 2004–06 (OECD 2007).


World protection for wheat is high on balance, with AVE rates for MFNs of 34 and 15 percent, respectively.2 Japan has the highest AVE rate, 96 percent, among the OECD countries, and Morocco and Tunisia have the highest AVE rates, 58 and 50 percent, respectively, among the MENA countries. Among importing countries, bound tariffs can be even higher, especially when these result from tariff rate quotas: for example, in Morocco bound tariffs are 198 percent out-of-quota and 144 percent in-quota. Several kinds of NTBs have also been imposed by governments, such as import licenses, quantity and quality restrictions, state trading requirements, and the imposition of bureaucratic red tape, to control wheat imports (Mitchell and Mielke 2004).


Rice


Rice is one of the most important foodgrains, accounting for 20 percent of caloric intake overall and 29 percent among low-income countries. However, only a small share of rice production (less than 7 percent) is traded interna- tionally (Wailes 2004).


The leading rice exporters in descending order of importance are Thai- land, India, the U.S., Pakistan, and Vietnam. Together they account for 76 percent of world rice exports. Nigeria, Iran, Japan, Indonesia, the Philip- pines, and Senegal are the largest importers among net importing countries. Together they account for 23 percent of world rice imports. Imports to the MENA region are mostly directed to Middle Eastern countries, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq, which together account for 20 percent of world rice import. Egypt is the 10th-largest exporter of rice, contributing 2 percent of world exports.


Unlike wheat and other commodities, for which most of the distortion in world markets is attributed to the policies of high-income countries, rice is


2 See details on the definition and computation of AVEs in Chapter 2.


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