§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what rules govern international trade in agricultural products; and when these were agreed.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithThe General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which came into effect in 1948, is the only multilateral instrument governing international trade. It covers trade in agricultural products which in several respects are covered by provisions different from those for trade in general. Some of these, including those affecting export subsidisation of agricultural products, were revised in 1955.
The basic rules have since been further developed, most recently in the Tokyo round of multilateral trade negotiations when a number of new codes, or agreements clarifying and expanding the basic rules, were established. One of these was the so-called subsidies code, which specifies ways in which export subsidies may be used on primary products in accordance with GATT. Texts of the general agreement and the codes are available in the Library.