Can world's nations ever free themselves from addiction of agricultural subsidies?

Farm subsidies are like booze and cigarettes. People always say they're quitting, but....

World Trade Organization (WTO) members have reached agreements on the framework for a new phase of trade liberalization, including both industrial goods and agriculture, but the devil is still in the details.

The WTO's 147 member countries still have to work out, for instance, the percentage of tariff cuts and the amount of subsidy cuts. "We want to make sure that there will be substantial cuts in domestic subsidies," an Australian official said recently.

But so far, members have only committed themselves to capping domestic farm subsidies at current levels as defined by their own officials. The European Union still heavily subsidizes its agriculture, although it has begun the process of farm reform internally. Any US farm bill will have implications for its policy on domestic farm support.

WTO members have agreed to reduce domestic subsidies by 20% in the first year as "a down payment," while the size of cuts in later years is subject to further talks. Developing countries have, meanwhile, proposed creating a list of "special products" which would be exempt from the trade liberalization.

The Australian official noted that market access remains another difficult issue to be sorted out as negotiations in this area have not gone into details yet. All countries should keep in mind, he added, that the "special products" should not undermine their efforts to reform the farm sector.

Another WTO official said in a separate meeting that if developing countries insist on a lengthy list of special products, the trade among developing nations might be disrupted. "The South-South trade we have hoped for will not happen," the official said.