Agricultural and textile trade liberalization at the WTO: effects on the countries of the South

Abstract

Changes in the rules of international trade of agricultural and textile products following the establishment and enforcement of the WTO in January 1995 have profoundly altered the international trade flows of these goods. They have generated both beneficial and counterproductive effects on the economies of the countries of the South. On the one hand, the share of the economies of the South has improved in world exports of textiles and clothing, but, on the contrary, imports of food from these countries have increased. The asymmetrical rules established in this matter, have generally favoured the interests of the countries of the North and have undermined the bulk of the countries of the South from benefiting sufficiently from the trade liberalization of these two very important and sensitive economic sectors of their economies, especially in the agricultural sector