Regional trade agreements boost market access but lag in food safety standards.
Regional trade agreements in Latin America, Asia-Pacific, and Africa were analyzed to see how they treat agriculture. The study looked at over 50 agreements to see if they provide more market access than the World Trade Organization. Most agreements are good at getting rid of tariffs on agricultural products, but not as good at dealing with food safety and technical barriers to trade. Agricultural export subsidies are banned in many agreements, which means more open trade.