The United States is engaged in multilateral trade negotiations in the WTO to attempt to open new markets, eliminate export subsidies, and reduce trade-distorting domestic support. The recent WTO Dispute Settlement ruling on the US cotton program has focused attention on the impacts that the WTO could have on US farm programs and policy. The United States also is negotiating nine new trade agreements, with the CAFRA-DR agreement being recently sent to Congress. Finally, although North American markets are more highly integrated, recent animal disease outbreaks have disrupted trade and cast doubt on the prospects for future integration. This series of articles examines prospects for progress in the WTO and challenges created by the recent Dispute Settlement ruling, discusses the implications of the Central American-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement, and provides an overview of market integration in North America.

Farmers and Social Security Reform

The Business of an Agricultural "Way of Life"

Beef Packers' Captive Supplies: An Upward Trend? A Pricing Edge?

The economics of food safety is a relatively new area of research. New scientific data, interdisciplinary research and models, and understanding the various forms of economic incentives are all improving knowledge about the interface between public policies and private strategies. Not only are global markets at stake, but foodborne pathogens cause acute illness in 76 million US consumers, 5,000 deaths, and an unknown number of chronic complications annually. This set of papers explores the central role of information in food safety decision-making as well as the interrelationship between regulations and markets in creating economic incentives to control foodborne pathogens.