IPCSeminars

Achieving Food Security in Volatile Times - WTO Disciplines, Grain Reserves, and Other Public Policy Responses

May 22, 2013

Washington, DC

Food security concerns in response to volatile world commodity prices have resulted in many governments undertaking public policy actions to address domestic concerns but which may exacerbate global price spikes. In this seminar "Achieving Food Security in Volatile Times – WTO Disciplines, Grain Reserves, and Other Public Policy Responses" panelists examined price volatility, the role of grain reserves as a moderating policy, and the effectiveness of WTO disciplines on export restrictions. Experts from China and India addressed those governments’ actions to address food security concerns. 

IPC Alert/Summary

Agenda and Presentations

• Price Volatility and Food Security

Tim Josling, Senior Fellow and Professor Emeritus, Institute for International Studies, Stanford University

• Export Restrictions and International Trade Law

Rob Howse, NYU Law School  

• Price Volatility, Reserves and Public Policy

Brian Wright, Chair, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Berkeley 

• The Political Economy of Food Pricing Policy in China

Jikun Huang,  Director, Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Chinese Academy of Sciences 

• India: Ensuring Food Security (Food Inflation, Food Bill, Buffer Stocks and Trade)

Ashok Gulati, Chairman, Indian Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices

Moderated by Joe Glauber, Chief Economist,  U.S. Department of Agriculture

Background Papers

• The Political Economy of Food Pricing Policy in China
• The Economics of Grain Price Volatility
• Stocks-to-use Ratios andPrices as Indicators of Vulnerability to Spikes in Global Cereal Markets
• Agricultural Export Restrictions and International Trade Law: A Way Forward
• Food Security: New Market Variables and Rational Public Policy Choices

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