Subtheme 2.1 Influence and Impact
The capacity building organized in Rabat, Morocco, on trade policies held at the Institut Agronome et Vétérinaire (IAV) Hassan II in Rabat, Morocco in March of 2010 focused on Advanced Training in Trade Policy Modeling. The training was successful and was followed by an online support program designed to help the trainees integrate their new skills and tools in their work. The participants were civil servants within the Ministry of Agriculture and the Office of Cereals in Morocco who would apply the knowledge acquired at the training in their work carried out throughout 2010. Antoine Bouet will supervise the PhD thesis of one of the training participants in collaboration with Prof Rachid Doukkali from the IAV Hassan II. Capacity building activities also continued in Pakistan. Collaborator Hina Nazli completed her Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Guelph in December 2010 addressing the economic impact of unregulated adoption of Bt cotton on agricultural practices and farm household incomes. David Orden served as advisor on her dissertation committee. Collaborative works with PITAD (Pakistan Institute on Trade and Development) have been pursued and two researchers have visited the Subtheme 2.1 team to improve their skills on the MIRAGE computable general equilibrium (CGE) model.
Researchers of subtheme 2.1 continue to be recognized for their work by the research community. In 2010, Antoine Bouet received the Allan Powell Award, for outstanding contributions to the GTAP network. In addition, Antoine was appointed to the scientific board of Economie et Statistique published by the French Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE).
The research on the WTO trade negotiations has contributed to the international debate. Concerning the ongoing negotiations of the Doha Round, David Laborde gave two presentations in Geneva – upon requests from the WTO secretariat – for the WTO member states delegations. The presentations focused on the evolution of the global trade negotiations and the potential cost of a failed Doha Round. David also participated in a WTO public debate on the stakes for developing countries in the Doha Round.5 These presentations were commended by the leading trade economist Richard Baldwin.6 Subtheme 2.1 research has been widely used by the international community and leading experts. For example, the high level report led by Prof. Jagdish Bhagwati and Peter Sutherland – former GATT and WTO Director general – and requested by British Prime Minister James Cameron7 released in the World Economic Forum in Davos relies heavily (11 references out of 14) on the work carried out by Subtheme 2.1 researchers. The report concludes that ―an agreement this year would provide "an insurance policy against future protectionism" and would reinforce the WTO system.”8; this is the exact conclusion drawn in the 2008 issue brief ―The potential cost of a failedDohaRound‖ by Antoine Bouet and David Laborde.
The work on the WTO has also included a focus on domestic support rules and policies. This research has articulated the distinctions between legal obligations of WTO members and underlying economic intention of reducing trade-distorting support; it has traced the extent to which the WTO notifications have tracked and provided transparency about countries‘ policies, and has assessed the extent to which a Doha agreement would constrain domestic support among key countries given projected policies to the mid 2010s. Several sessions on this analysis were held in 2010 at the annual meetings of the UK Agricultural Economics Society, the US Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, and the International Policy Council for Food and Agricultural Trade. The contribution of the forthcoming book, WTO Disciplines on Agricultural Support (Cambridge University Press), has been endorsed by leading trade analysts and practitioners, including the former EU Commissioner of Agriculture, former director of the OECD agriculture and trade secretariat, and two former chairs of the WTO Committee on Agriculture.
The subtheme has also continued its important work on biofuels. In particular, the Program has contributed significantly to the EU biofuels debate by conducting an in-depth study for the EU‘s Renewable Energy Directive and Fuel Quality Directive. The study was conducted as part of the EU Public Consultation mechanism on indirect land use change and biofuels; it determined that, while indirect land use change has ―an important effect on the environmental sustainability of biofuels,‖ current EU renewable energy targets are small enough to safeguard the environmental sustainability of biofuels. The report prepared for the EC has drawn an extensive media coverage and was one of the four documents (the only one not produced by an EC branch) included in the official public consultation gathering all EU stakeholders. Due to the importance of the issue, this research has also been involved in a lawsuit launched by different NGOs against the EC on the base of the information transparency regulation. Access the completed report.
In terms of media coverage, researchers of subtheme 2.1 have been frequently cited by international news agencies, especially on the work on biofuels including Reuters, EU Observer, AgWeek, European Report, Biofuels International, Renewable Energy magazine,
Agra-net.com, European Voice, etc. Subtheme 2.1 researchers have also been quoted by several national and international media on WTO Doha trade negotiations and WTO domestic support such as Reuters, Daily star Bangladesh, Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest, Voice of America etc.
5
http://www.wto.org/library/flashvideo/video_e.htm?id=55 6
http://www.voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/6066 7
http://www.number10.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/doha-round-jan-2011.pdf 8
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12309484
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