Expansion of Commercial Trade in Agricultural Products

Progress in reorganising the world market for temperate-zone agricultural products has come to be seen as a political necessity if the international trading system is to continue to develop in the interests of peace and prosperity. It also holds out the possibility for considerable economic advantage to both industrial and developing countries. A recent study by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has attempted to estimate the loss in income resulting from agricultural protectionism. The study puts this loss at about 6 per cent of the income of less developed countries (see Table I).1 From a narrower point of view, the United Kingdom has an interest in promoting, within Western Europe, sensible and responsible policies in the area of agricultural trade.