Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Changing Global Market Situation and the PFDS
On the issue of trade-based instruments, especially in the context of WTO
agreements such as the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) and the Agreement on
Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), the overall scenario re-
mains uncertain. This is because the perception regarding the validity of such
agreements, in the context of ensuring food security and addressing right-to-
food issues, is contentious. 7 For instance, many NGOs argue that international
trade liberalization and globalization have been disastrous for food security and
the right-to-food issue. On the basis of 27 case studies in different countries
Madeley (2000) claims that food security centering on international trade is
“more mirage than fact” for the poorest in developing countries. In the case of
Zambia, even the IMF has recognized that liberalization and adjustment re-
duced food consumption (IMF 1998). The argument for easy movement of food-
grains is well taken, but the problem remains: if there is little or no grain avail-
able in either international or domestic markets, the question of movement loses
its relevance. The same applies to greater availability of foreign exchange. It
also ebbs and flows, and the recent downward trend in foreign exchange reserve
in 2002/03 forced the government to fall back on policy-based lending from
IMF and the World Bank.
The crux of the issue here is not the total disappearance of the public sec-
tor or the total exclusion of the private sector in addressing food security issues
—rather, it is finding an appropriate balance between the public sector and other
sectors.
Prospects for Future Reform
The foregoing analysis has shown that the PFDS continues to be relevant in the
Bangladesh socioeconomic context, despite the costs associated with retaining
it. In addition, there is yet to be a consensus on the efficacy of a trade-based in-
strument for ensuring food security, which has been further confirmed by the
breakdown of WTO negotiations in the Cancun Conference. Viewed in the con-
text of recent national perceptions (New Food Policy) and international events
(Cancun Conference), the prospect for future reform does not appear bright. In
the short and the medium term, therefore, the approach should center on con-
solidating the reform measures already achieved rather than trying new and rad-
ical measures of reform. It is from this perspective that issues of further reforms
are discussed and analyzed below.
LEGAL REFORM . Recent research (Rahman 2000) points to the need for
removing the uncertainty that still persists in the legal and administrative envi-
ronments. As stated earlier, a plethora of regulatory control instruments still ex-
ist, though they are not enforced. Recent developments in Bangladesh do not
7. For details on these issues, see Gray (2003).
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