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Agriculture is a provider of commodities such as food, feed, fibre and fuel, and it can bring both positive and negative impacts on the environment. Yet most policy measures target farm systems, inputs and practices and agricultural infrastructure (driving forces) rather than the provision of agri-environmental public goods (environmental outcomes).
This report analyses how a handful of OECD countries (Australia, Canada, Japan, United Kingdom and the United States) defines agri-environmental public goods and sets agri-environmental targets and reference levels, and the policies they implement for targeting certain agri-environmental public goods.
This study analyses the promotion of collective action for agri-environmental public goods and addresses externalities by reviewing the experience of various OECD member countries. Twenty-five cases from
13 countries (Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom) are examined. The study shows that collective action should be given serious consideration as a means of addressing many agricultural and natural resource issues, and in some cases collective action should be actively promoted.
The Dominican Republic, though the fastest-growing economy in Latin America and the Caribbean since 2010, cannot afford complacency. The COVID-19 crisis may accelerate existing global trends that created the need for reforms addressing structural weaknesses that lurked beneath the surface well before the pandemic. The current situation demands an unpreceded policy effort to ensure a prompt and effective health response, and to guarantee short-term support for workers and firms. The enduring challenge will be updating the country’s development model through targeted reforms. The Production Transformation Policy Review (PTPR) of the Dominican Republic identifies priority reforms to update the national strategy, with perspectives on agro-food and nearshoring. It benefitted from peer review from the United States Reshoring Institute and the Ministry of Agriculture of Brazil.
Management of farm animal diseases is increasingly important in view of the threats they pose to farm incomes and sometimes even to the viability of farm enterprises, wildlife and humans. This report analyses the incentives for individual farmers to manage such risks and the governments' role to align farmer incentives with public objectives.
Identifying and assessing animal disease risks, as well as understanding their financial implications, are central to decisions made by farmers. The report examines the economic drivers of farmer decisions and government economic instruments, such as compensation related to livestock epidemics. It further discusses a spectrum of psychological and social drivers of farmer behaviour and emphasises the importance of government's more extensive role in the areas of information, communication and education related to disease management. Finally, farmer collective action in various areas of disease management is considered, such as capacity building, risk insurance, surveillance, and responses to disease outbreaks. The case studies of livestock disease management in Australia, Chile and Korea complement this analysis.
The assessment of agricultural policies depends more and more on micro-economic data sets. This is especially true for policies with an income objective in a situation where farm households have different income sources. Among others the OECD has stressed this point in recent years with analytical reports. The PACIOLI network yearly brings together data managers and researchers interested in the innovation of data collection in this area. In April 2004 a joint workshop was organised at the OECD in Paris to bring experts together to exchange best practices.
Developing countries are concerned that multilateral tariff reductions will harm their agricultural sectors because of preference erosion. The findings in this report suggest that although this may indeed be a problem for some countries in some sectors, factors other than preferential schemes may be limiting developing country exports. The report provides information on the extent to which developing countries have used selected, non-reciprocal preferential trading schemes provided by the EU and the US. Secondary data are complemented by interviews with market operators further clarifying the empirical findings. A special section has been devoted to the preferences granted to African countries highlighting the conditions for this set of developing countries.
This report aims to answer two major questions: (1) How beneficial are the trade preferences provided to developing countries; and (2) what are the implications of possible erosion of these benefits under multilateral trade liberalisation? The report focuses on trade preferences provided by the so-called Quad countries (Canada, the European Union, Japan and the United States) because they have some of the world’s highest tariffs on agricultural commodities. Findings from this study suggest that although preferential margins will be eroded with multilateral liberalisation, this may be a problem only for certain countries and within specific sectors, and that factors not related to preferential trade schemes may be limiting the exports of the least-developed countries (LDC).
This brochure is published within the framework of the Scheme for the Application of International Standards for Fruit and Vegetables established by OECD in 1962. This is the first OECD brochure which is based on a Codex Standard. It interprets the first international standard on pomegranates, which was adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission in 2013. It comprises explanatory notes and illustrations to facilitate the uniform interpretation of this new standard. This new brochure illustrates the standard text and demonstrates the quality parameters on high quality photographs. Thus, it is a valuable tool for the inspection authorities, professional bodies and traders interested in international trade in pomegranates.
This report synthesises the experience of OECD countries in developing and implementing policies, programmes and initiatives related to green growth in the agricultural sector, based primarily on material provided by governments. It discusses the overall approach that countries are taking towards establishing a green growth strategy in agriculture; the implementation of the OECD framework for monitoring progress towards green growth in agriculture; and the various policy instruments used.
A key conclusion is that, while most countries have some policies in place that relate to the concept of green growth, the degree of ambition shows considerable variation. A wide range of instruments and a variety of “policy mixes” are currently applied across OECD countries, with the majority of countries appearing to have strategic objectives covering a wide range of subjects related to green growth, particularly in the area of improving energy efficiency and reducing the carbon footprint of agriculture. A coherent overall policy framework that has clear objectives, sets R&D priorities, and policy measures that are targeted and implemented at the appropriate levels are essential to establish a comprehensive strategy for green growth in agriculture.
Burkina Faso is the first country to apply the OECD Policy Framework for Investment in Agriculture to assess its policies to attract and benefit from investment in the sector. This whole-of-government assessment involved 17 Ministries and institutions, as well as the private sector, and has identified short- to medium-term measures to improve and strengthen the country's capacity for policy design.
The Netherlands has built an agricultural sector that is a world leader in productivity and competitiveness. But environmental challenges have grown increasingly urgent and the sector will have to adjust. A recent court ruling on nitrogen pollution has set the stage for a transition towards a more environmentally sustainable path that will be difficult and contentious. Leveraging the strong innovation capacity of the sector will be key to finding long-term solutions that work for farmers, citizens and the environment.
Policies for the Future of Farming and Food in the Netherlands takes stock of the current situation in the agriculture sector. It applies the OECD Productivity, Sustainability and Resilience (PSR) analytical framework along with the latest data from the OECD Agri-Environmental Indicators to benchmark the country’s sustainable productivity performance and to identify the main challenges facing the sector, and make suggestions for a possible path forward.
The European Union is one of the world’s largest agro-food players. In an ever-changing economic and policy environment, the EU agro-food system has demonstrated its resilience and the ability to keep productivity growing. More needs to be done for the agricultural sector to improve its environmental sustainability performance in line with expectations.
Policies for the Future of Farming and Food in the European Union applies the OECD Productivity, Sustainability and Resilience (PSR) analytical framework along with the latest data from the OECD Agri-Environmental Indicators to benchmark the sustainable productivity performance of the EU’s agricultural sector and to identify the main challenges ahead. The EU´s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is called to play an important role in implementing the European Green Deal’s vision and objectives. Responding to pressing environmental concerns will require redesigning CAP payments, addressing the implementation gap on sustainability, implementing an ambitious data and digitalisation strategy, and bringing innovation to the centre of the agricultural policy.
Spain has a dynamic and competitive agro-food sector. However, higher productivity has not always reduced environmental pressures. The agricultural innovation and knowledge system could play a key role in addressing the environmental challenges and improving the sector’s resilience.
Policies for the Future of Farming and Food in Spain undertakes a thorough examination of the Spanish agro-food sector. It applies the OECD Productivity, Sustainability and Resilience (PSR) analytical framework along with the latest data from the OECD Agri-Environmental Indicators to benchmark the country’s sustainable productivity performance and to identify the main challenges facing the sector.
This report proposes a new policy approach, which puts innovation at the centre of a strategy to reconcile environmental performance and productivity growth. Its policy recommendations focus on actions to improve the agricultural knowledge and innovation system and make it more responsive to the most urgent environmental pressures. This requires strengthening the institutional and regulatory framework that supports agricultural innovation and creating incentives to tackle the impediments for a more sustainable and resilient agriculture.
Norway is performing unevenly across its four agricultural policy objectives. While Norway enjoys a high level of food security and is meeting its aim of maintaining agricultural production across the country, both environmental performance and the efficient creation of value added along the food chain are compromised by support policies linked to production levels. Support to producers relative to gross farm receipts is the highest among OECD countries, with 59% of farmers’ revenues coming from government support. Only 3% of total support to agriculture is dedicated to research and innovation. Moreover, while Norway has strong public research institutions and well-designed tax deductions, the private sector lacks the right policy incentives to innovate.
This review proposes a new policy approach, centred around innovations that would enable Norway to achieve its objectives and improve the productivity, sustainability and resilience of its agro-food sector. Specific recommendations include increasing the responsiveness of the sector to markets, giving farmers greater flexibility in making production decisions, placing greater emphasis on agri-environmental outcomes, and increasing the role of the private sector in research and innovation.
This brochure is published within the framework of the Scheme for the Application of International Standards for Fruit and Vegetables established by OECD in 1962. It comprises explanatory notes and illustrations to facilitate the uniform interpretation of the current plums standard. It demonstrates the quality parameters on high quality photographs. Thus it is a valuable tool for the inspection authorities, professional bodies and traders interested in international trade in plums. This brochure is available in electronic format only.
This brochure is published within the framework of the activities of the Scheme for the Application of International Standards for Fruit and Vegetables set up by OECD in 1962. It comprises comments and illustrations to facilitate the common interpretation of standards in force and is therefore a valuable tool for both the Inspection Authorities and professional bodies responsible for the application of standards or interested in the international trade in these products.
This report calls for a better understanding of the effects of pharmaceutical residues in the environment, greater international collaboration and accountability distribution, and policy actions to prevent and remedy emerging concerns. Laboratory and field tests show traces of oral contraceptives causing the feminisation of fish and amphibians, and residues of psychiatric drugs altering fish behaviour. Antimicrobial resistance, linked to the overuse of antibiotics, has rapidly escalated into a global health crisis.
Unless adequate measures are taken to manage the risks, pharmaceutical residues will increasingly be released into the environment as ageing populations, advances in healthcare, and intensification of meat and fish production spur the demand for pharmaceuticals worldwide. The report outlines a collective, life-cycle approach to managing pharmaceuticals in the environment. A policy mix of source-directed, use-orientated and end-of-pipe measures, involving several policy sectors, can help to improve health and protect the environment.
This brochure is published within the framework of the Scheme for the Application of International Standards for Fruit and Vegetables established by OECD in 1962. It comprises explanatory notes and illustrations to facilitate the uniform interpretation of the current pears standard. It demonstrates the quality parameters on high quality photographs. Thus it is a valuable tool for the inspection authorities, professional bodies and traders interested in international trade in pears. This brochure is available in electronic format only.
This publication provides comments and illustrations of standards in force regarding the classification, presentation and marking of pears in international trade under the Scheme for the Application of International Standards for Fruit and Vegetables set up by OECD in 1962. It is a valuable tool for both the Inspection Authorities and professional bodies responsible for the application of standards or interested in trade in pears.