§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will initiate research, either directly or through the International Labour Organisation and the World Trade Organisation, to assess the exact impact of trade liberalisation on (a) developing countries, and (b) the poorest people in the world; and whether they consider that such research should cover food security within countries, sustainable agriculture, and the protection of the natural environment. [HL313]
§ Baroness AmosDfID is working closely with the international financial institutions and other multilateral and bilateral bodies to quantify the potential gains to developing countries of international and domestic trade liberalisation. Although estimates vary across studies, on balance evidence suggests that developing countries benefit from increased trade openness in the same proportion as richer countries. Furthermore, a reduction of a country's own trade barriers tends to bring real benefits to its consumers, including poor consumers.
168WANone the less, while the reforms may lead to aggregate gains in a country's economic welfare, they inevitably create losers. As well as undertaking studies on the effects of trade reform on livelihoods and food security of the poor segments of the population in developing countries, DfID is working with a number of developing country partners and through the multilateral system to link the trade agenda within countries' own development strategies. We are also supporting the EU's sustainability impact assessments, which aim to gauge the potential economic, social and environmental impacts of the WTO negotiations on affected sectors in both the EU and developing countries. The intention is to ensure that liberalisation is accompanied by other policies to help maximize the economic opportunities for all and mitigate adverse impacts on poor households.