The impact of GATS on Agriculture

Conventional wisdom on the World Trade Organization negotiations has it that there will be a trade-off between concessions made by industrialized countries in agriculture and concessions made by developing countries in services. What is often overlooked are the linkages between the two sectors, especially the impacts on agriculture of the liberalization of crucial services sectors.

At fi rst glance it might seem that the GATS has little to do with agriculture. Its list of 160 service sub-sectors makes little direct reference to agriculture and food: they include just