Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
countervailing duties. Put simply, special anti-dumping provisions will
reman for 15 years after China's WTO accession. In cases of anti-dumping,
Chna wll be subject to a dfferent set of rules that countres can use to
prove their dumping allegations. In addition, the methods that countries
can use aganst Chna to enforce ant-dumpng clams wll dffer from most
of the rest of the world. In essence, this set of measures makes it easier
for countries to bring, prove and enforce dumping cases against China.
It should be noted, however, that although the rules differ from those
governing trade among other countries, China will have the same rights
in its dealings with other countries—which could help it in some dumping
matters when t concerns a partner's export behavour.
Chna's WTO commtments and prvleges assocated wth the measures
in other parts of the agreement also affect its agriculture. For example,
on agricultural chemicals, China has committed to replace quantitative
import restrictions on three types of fertilisers (DAP, NPK and urea) by
TRQs. Tariffs were cut on accession and further cuts have been phased
in since 2005 on almost all industrial products (for example, tractors and
pesticides). Furthermore, China has reduced significantly its non-tariff
measures and eliminated all quotas, tendering and import licensing on
non-farm merchandise since 2005. For textiles and clothing, however, the
current 'voluntary' export restrants wll not be phased out completely
until the end of 2008, meaning that exports might not expand as fast as
they would under a less restrctve regme. Substantal commtments to
open up servces markets n Chna also have been made.
Policy shifts since China's WTO accession
Whle the substantal nsttutonal and marketng reforms mplemented n
agrculture snce the late 1970s can facltate the response of households to
the changes that have arisen with the implementation of WTO accession—
and more generally in China's transition to the post-accession regime—China
still requires considerable reform to meet its WTO commitments (Martin
2002). In fact, the government has realised for a considerable time that it
faces a real challenge. In many instances, officials have taken this challenge
as an opportunty to accelerate contnung reforms n nternatonal and
domestc polces.
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