Food Security and International Agricultural Trade: Old Problems, New Perspectives

How can the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) rules on international agricultural trade address food security more effectively? This is a question taxing trade negotiators, policy officials outside the WTO and many eminent academic commentators. There is such a wealth of institutional literature and academic commentary advocating changes to the WTO’s international agricultural trade rules beyond those in the Doha Draft Modalities for Agriculture that it is easy to get swept along with the strong impetus for fundamental change. This article urges caution and that changing the international rules may not improve food security at all.