Are Food Safety and International
Trade Compatible?
Global trade in meats, grain, fruit and vegetables, and seafood
is increasing, but each of those sectors has experienced food
safety episodes that have, at least temporarily, impeded trade
and resulted in economic loss. ERS is studying the nexus between
international food trade and food safety, focusing on how
different approaches to regulating food safety affect trade,
and how the private and public sectors have responded to enhance
the compatibility of trade and food safety. The ERS study
will include an economic framework for understanding linkages
between trade and food safety, commodity case studies to demonstrate
the effects of food safety issues in international markets,
an overview of global trends in food safety regulation, and
an assessment of the role of international institutions in
mitigating trade disputes. Jean
Buzby
Environmental Review
of Free Trade Agreements
U.S. Executive Order 13141 as well as the Trade Act of 2002
mandate a review of the environmental impacts of new free
trade agreements. ERS economists Joseph Cooper and Roy Darwin
are working with the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on conducting
a quantitative analysis of the potential environmental effects
of free trade agreements. If the interagency process is approved,
ERS will be one of two U.S. Government agencies to provide
the USTR with such a quantitative analysis. The initial targets
of analysis are the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas
and a free trade agreement among member countries of the World
Trade Organization. Joseph
Cooper, Roy Darwin
How a Nation’s
Income Growth Affects Its Food Consumption Patterns
ERS research corroborates that lower income countries spend
a larger share of their additional income on food than wealthier
countries do. ERS economist Anita Regmi and Professor James
Seale at the University of Florida have examined food expenditure
responses to income and price changes across 110 low-, middle-,
and high-income countries. Their findings also demonstrate
that income growth leads to larger increases in expenditures
on higher valued food products (such as meats and dairy products)
than on staple food products (such as cereals). Food expenditures
in poorer countries are also more responsive to price changes.
The results from the study are being used in ERS and Global
Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) models to analyze the impacts
of various policy changes on food demand and trade, as well
as to forecast future food demand. Anita
Regmi
How Rural Areas
Differ
ERS is constructing new county classifications to capture
current aspects of the broad economic and social diversity
among rural areas. Some earlier typologies developed by ERS
have been widely used by policy analysts and public officials
to determine eligibility for and effectiveness of Federal
programs to assist rural America. Others have served research
needs in and outside of USDA. Rapid advancements in technology,
changes in population growth patterns, and devolution of government
services during the 1990s have led ERS to take a fresh look
at rural diversity. Linda
Ghelfi
The
Market for Commodity-Based Agricultural Information
ERS, the World Agricultural Outlook Board, and other USDA
agencies are working with Booz Allen Hamilton to explore the
potential for a one-stop shopping portal for commodity-related
information on the USDA website. The Booz Allen Hamilton analysts
have been examining the costs and benefits of such an effort,
and have had extensive interactions with private sector users
and generators of commodity-related data and information within
USDA. In addition to this effort, ERS is developing a comprehensive
report on the market for commodity market information, which
will draw on a 2000 survey of private sector information users,
several cooperative agreements with researchers at the University
of Illinois, the University of California-Berkeley, and other
universities, and the Booz Allen Hamilton findings. Joy
Harwood
