OWG Proposed Target 17.10
RATING: PHENOMENAL – It is well established that increased trade has very large benefits, with low costs (e.g. Anderson, 2008). The inclusion of the agricultural mandate is crucial, since as much as 60% of the gains from liberalizing merchandise trade globally would come from agricultural policy reforms, particularly reducing import restrictions and agricultural subsidies (but also, in the case of countries such as Argentina, from reducing agricultural export taxes).
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In our recent report, not just the target above, but all 169 targets have been assessed by 60 teams of the world’s top economists. The targets have been categorized into five ratings based on evidence of economic, social, and environmental costs and benefits. While we applaud that the UN Open Working Group's final outcome document contains 43 fewer targets than the previous document, we are concerned that many targets have simply been combined, therefore reducing the number of both phenomenal and poor targets assessed according to our cost-benefit analysis. Our new assessment includes suggestions for how these can be improved as reported in this article by the Financial Times.
