Issue ? 41. December 2013

Russian Agriculture in the WTO: The 'green box' potential

Rayudin A. Yusufov — Ph.D., All-Russian Research Institute of Agriculture Economy, Labor and Governance.
E-mail: Yusufov.r.@gmail.com

Rukhman Kh. Adukov — Ph.D., professor, Head of Division; Governance in Agro-Industrial Sector and Rural Development, All-Russian Research Institute of Agriculture Economy, Labor and Governance.
E-mail: rukhman@adukov.ru

Despite the unfavorable nature of the terms of Russia’s accession to the WTO, there are significant opportunities to increase competitiveness of the agricultural sector of the country. In particular, taking into account international experience, the authors show that, for the development of agriculture, “green box” measures are no less important than the direct support measures traditional for Russia. As an example, we take a look at the Federal Target Program “Development of the reclamation of agricultural land in Russia until 2020”, the implementation of which will significantly increase the productivity of farmland. We suggested a classification of “green box” measures which increases their visibility. It is concluded that the extent of the potential of “green box” depends on the quality of governance.

Keywords

Agriculture, the WTO, budgetary support, “green box”, competitiveness, governance.